Fletchers Lake Church is marking one-year of disaffiliating from the United Methodist Church. Shown in the church building at 9810 CR 475W, Kewanna, are congregant and church historian Betty Muinzer, left, and Pastor Dave Sommers.

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By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

KEWANNA — It’s been one year since Fletchers Lake Church disaffiliated from the United Methodist denomination.

Church congregants say it’s been a positive change.

July 3, 2023, was the official date of the congregation at 9810 CR 475W, Kewanna, exiting the UMC. Members voted earlier in 2023 for the move, said Pastor Dave Sommers.

The majority of the members had to be “present (and) vote in favor of leaving,” explained Sommers, who wasn’t allowed by the UMC to be at the church building for the vote.

“We voted 5-0, that was what our members were at the time,” he said. “We had a lot more people attending, but that was the actual membership.”

“After the vote, everybody I guess was applauding,” added Sommers. “We were standing up for the Bible and what it stood for.”

Sommers, who’s been pastor at Fletchers Lake since November 1991, said people have opted to leave the UMC because of its stance on sexuality: allowing clergy to perform same-sex marriages and ordaining homosexual clergy.

He noted that “the majority of (Fulton County area UMC churches) chose to disaffiliate.”

“I feel like we’ve done the right thing,” said congregant Betty Muinzer, who’s attended Fletchers Lake since she was a child.

She acts as the historian for the church and is descended from two of the trustees of it at the time the building was constructed in 1896: Harry Lemon and James Callahan.

After the vote, the church had to pay over $18,000 to the UMC to cover pensions of retired Methodist pastors.

Sommers said more people are coming to church since the exit.

The church has 40-some people now, with it “averaging 17” before, he said.

Services are 10 a.m. Sundays, and everyone is welcome to come, said Sommers and Muinzer.

“I try to preach out of the Bible completely, and I like to bring it into the present day,” said Sommers.

He also does a pre-sermon each Sunday for kids and those “young at heart.”

The church also has a women’s Bible study at 4 p.m. Thursdays in women’s homes and youth group after church generally after the last Sunday of each month.

Since Fletchers Lake left the UMC, they don’t have to pay membership dues anymore, which has freed up funds.

“Now we keep that in-house and that’s what helps us with our youth group … and we had enough that we were able to work on the cemetery,” he said.

The cemetery improvements began with three Caston High School students, Edison Byrum, Adyn Spradlin and Jacob Swaford, doing work cleaning up tombstones at the cemetery for their senior projects in 2023.

They needed to only have 20 hours of service each, but Sommers said they each exceeded 40.

That caused the church to spend money on having a company straighten crooked headstones.

“They did the worst ones, and we’ve still got some more that we’re going to have them come back (and fix),” said Sommers.

He said the church has also been able to use funds, which might have previously gone to the UMC, to purchase a 2001 used motorcoach for youth group trips and other functions, including transporting those from other churches.

Muinzer said she feels the church has been “blessed” that they left the UMC.

“I have not seen this much life in this church as we’ve had in the last year,” added Sommers. “You might say a burden was lifted. The Methodist Church wanted to keep their thumb on us and what we were doing and how we did it and things … and now we’re free and we’re excited about it and it shows.”

The outside of the church building is shown.

The church was able to pay to get cemetery tombstones straightened with some extra money it had thanks to not having to pay dues to the UMC anymore.