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United Methodist Church can fight to prevent split with SMU, Texas Supreme Court rules

The school sought to leave the church because of differences over gay marriage and clergy. The court did not decide whether SMU could be prevented from separating.

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A sign at one of the entrances to the Southern Methodist University campus in Dallas on Dec. 20, 2022.
The Texas Supreme Court on Friday allowed the United Methodist Church to proceed with its legal fight to prevent Southern Methodist University from cutting ties with the church. Credit: Image of Sport/Sipa USA via REUTERS

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The Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that the United Methodist Church can keep fighting for control of Southern Methodist University.

In 2019, the Dallas-based school changed its governing documents, removing all references to the church that helped found it more than a century ago. School leaders declared that its board of trustees was the “ultimate authority” over the university, not the United Methodist Church.

The changes came after the church voted to ban gay weddings and clergy. R. Gerald Turner, who was serving as president of SMU at the time, told the Dallas Morning News that the school made the change “so that we can continue to educate everybody from all Methodist denominations and from other denominations, and people who don’t believe at all.”

The South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church has argued SMU wasn’t allowed to make those changes without its approval and that it still has a say in how the university is run.

The ruling, which was 8-1, with one partial dissent does not say who’s right, just that the church has the legal right to make its case in court.

Attorneys for both sides could not be immediately reached. The case now heads back to a lower court.

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