4 days ago · SMU, with its 11,800 students and $2.2 billion endowment, has declared its independence from the United Methodist Church, ending a 114-year connection while planning to retain its "Methodist" name. The split occurred in 2019 when the UMC General Conference reaffirmed and strengthened the church’s stance against same-sex marriage and gay clergy.

Jan 2, 2025 · A multi-year fight over whether Southern Methodist University can separate itself from the United Methodist Church is heading to Texas’ highest court this month.

5 days ago · The United Methodist Church is fighting to maintain control over Southern Methodist University, or SMU, which asserted in 2019 that it’s led by a board of trustees, not church officials. “The private university abruptly changed its articles of incorporation and named its own board as its ‘ultimate authority,’” according to The New ...

Jan 5, 2025 · A multi-year fight over whether Southern Methodist University can separate itself from the United Methodist Church is heading to Texas’ highest court this month.

Jan 15, 2025 · The Texas Supreme Court will hear oral arguments today in an ongoing legal saga between the United Methodist Church and Southern Methodist University over who governs the university.

Jan 7, 2025 · A five-year-old dispute between Southern Methodist University in Dallas and a multi-state United Methodist Church body over the university’s ownership and governance will come before the Texas Supreme Court for oral arguments Jan. 15.

Oct 23, 2024 · DALLAS — The Texas Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case that could determine whether or not SMU can cut ties with a regional governing body of the United Methodist Church.

Oct 31, 2024 · Southern Methodist University in Dallas is headed back to court seeking to free itself from the authority of The United Methodist Church. Most sources trace this conflict back to actions taken by the UMC in 2019, but a tug-of-war between university and church goes back more than a decade further.

Oct 24, 2024 · The Texas Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal of the case to determine whether the university can cut its ties with the United Methodist Church’s South Central Jurisdictional Conference (SCJC), which runs the church’s congregations in eight states, including Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Missouri and Nebraska.

Jan 15, 2025 · The Texas Supreme Court heard arguments to decide if SMU's Board of Trustees can alter the university's articles of incorporation with approval from the United Methodist Church.