A Texas megachurch says its legal dispute with a regional conference of the United Methodist Church (UMC) centers on corporate governance, not religious doctrine. Dallas-area Highland Park United Methodist Church (HPUMC) has filed a formal response and counterclaim in a lawsuit brought by the UMC’s Horizon Texas Annual Conference. The church argues that 2022 amendments to its corporate documents were lawful under Texas law and that the conference’s claims should be dismissed.
In court documents filed Sept. 21 in Dallas County District Court, the church, also known as Highland Park Methodist Church Inc., maintains that its church council, acting as the corporation’s board of directors, properly amended and restated the church’s articles of incorporation and bylaws in November 2022. The council approved the changes unanimously, though the church’s governing documents required only a two-thirds majority of the council and no outside denominational approval.
The church cited Texas Supreme Court decisions, including Masterson v. Diocese of Northwest Texas and related cases, which hold that courts must apply “neutral principles” of corporate law to governance disputes, meaning the same rules that apply to any secular organization, even when religious bodies are involved. HPUMC is asking the court to declare that the amendments are valid and remain in force.
It is also seeking dismissal of the conference’s claims through a Rule 91a motion, which allows a Texas court to throw out claims that have no basis in law or fact, and a plea to the jurisdiction, which challenges the court’s authority to hear the claims.
In a statement posted on its website the same day as the filing, HPUMC said the 2022 updates were administrative steps taken as it chose to remain in the UMC during a period when more than 7,600 congregations left the denomination under a now-expired denominational disaffiliation policy amid