2547. Interdenominational Local Church Mergers--One or more local United Methodist Churches may merge with one or more Churches of other denominations and become a single Church by pursuing the following procedure:
1. Following appropriate dialogue, which shall include discussions with the United Methodist district superintendent of the district in which the merging Churches are located and the corresponding officials of the other judicatories involved, a plan of merger reflecting the nature and ministry of the local Church (201-204) shall be submitted to the charge conference of the local United Methodist Church and must be approved by a resolution stating the terms and conditions and missional plans of the proposed merger, including the denominational connection of the merger Church.
2. The plan of merger as approved by the Charge Conference of the United Methodist Church, in a charge conference including two or more local churches, must be approved by the Church local conference of each local church in accordance with the requirements of 2527.
3. The merger must be approved in writing by the superintendent of the district, a majority of the district superintendents, and the bishop of the area in which the merging Churches are located.
4. The provisions of 2503 shall be included in the plan of merger where applicable.
5. The requirements of any and all laws of the state or states in which the merging Churches are located affecting or relating to the merger of such Churches must be complied with, and in any case where there is a conflict between such laws and the procedure outlined in the Discipline, said laws shall prevail and the procedure outlined in the Discipline shall be modified to the extent necessary to eliminate such conflict.
6. Where property is involved, the provisions of 2548 obtain.
General Conference Webmaster: Susan Brumbaugh
PETS Creator: John Brawn
1992 Book of Discipline: ¶ 2547
1996 United Methodist General Conference