The Arkansas and Oklahoma conferences are planning advertising and social media campaigns this fall to follow up on The United Methodist Church’s new vision statement.
The Oklahoma Conference ministry for prisoners reentering society started receiving residents in 1998, but it began two years earlier in the minds of two United Methodist pastors who wanted to do something about recidivism.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court’s decisions, which side with The United Methodist Church’s Oklahoma Conference, could have wider implications for church-disaffiliation cases in other state courts.
A court order had the Oklahoma Conference scrambling to hold an unplanned special session in August to vote on the disaffiliation of a church that filed suit. The conference also is appealing the ruling, arguing the judge’s order violates the First Amendment.
