Rev. John Miles led his church through the disaffiliation process faithfully, only to be shut down by the Arkansas Annual Conference at the end of 2022. At that point, he and local leadership entered into litigation with the conference. A dozen judges recused themselves from the case before it could finally proceed. Although the judge initially showed some favor to the congregation, he recently ruled that they needed to leave the church building, as they no longer could be considered the same legal entity that they were before. Rev. John Miles and the rest of his staff are now packing up their belongings and moving out as the remnant #StayUMC group prepares to move back in.

In this segment, John and I speak about what has transpired, how he would counsel other churches looking at the option of litigation, and how it is that we might be able to pray for his flock.

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