Photograph by Richard Darby - Fresno Bee
The Rev. Ed. Ezaki, left, and the Rev. Rick Plain discuss the gongregation's vote to leave the denomination Sunday.
Kingsburg Methodist church leaves denomination
Unanimous vote signals start of new congregation
By John G. Taylor
The Fresno Bee
(Published June 29, 1998)
"It's exciting. It's a good thing. We've seen this coming," Lowell Johnson said.
KINGSBURG - Lowell and Lois Johnson celebrated the 50th anniversary of their marriage at First United Methodist Church here by resigning Sunday from the denomination,
along with 198 other church members.
He and other former members will now try to set a national precedent by buying the church from
the 8.5 million member Protestant movement that they spurned Sunday. "We have two separate faiths in this denomination that cannot be held together," the Rev. Ed Ezaki said in his sermon preceding the vote. Ezaki and other lay
leaders said that current Methodism has forsaken the Bible by allowing same-sex marriages, encouraging sexual permissiveness, questioning the lordship of Jesus Christ and failing to include conservatives in top church positions. Things are
so bad, Ezaki said, that "anyone who breathes" is now allowed to become a Methodist. "There are some things in life that require absolute purity, and following God is one of them," he said. The vote, in which members
were asked to stand to register approval or disapproval, was 200 to 0 in favor of leaving the denomination. The vote also launched an independent congregation, Kingsburg Community Church, effective Wednesday.
There were 371 registered members before the vote, and an unknown number of absentee ballots were still being tabulated. Among those who did not resign were Ezaki and the church's board of trustees. That's partly because they will now try
to negotiate purchase of church properties from the denomination as a permanent home for their new congregation. A key player in that effort will be the Rev. Rick Plain, the Methodist superintendent who oversees the 62 churches and 13,510
members of the Fresno District. Plain, who sat quietly taking notes Sunday, declined comment other than to say, "I have a lot of work to do." Regional Methodist leaders have said selling the property to former members is one of
many options that will require a lengthy review. Other conservative Methodist churches in the Valley are watching how the denomination handles Kingsburg's mass resignation before deciding how they will register their discontent.
Speakers and others at the service expressed sadness, relief and eagerness to take what, in the truest sense, is a leap of faith.
"We wish no ill on anyone," said church trustee Walter "Wally" Engstrom, shaking hands with district leader Plain. "We've got to go forward with our children," said Chrisann Boone, Christian education director.
She's now worrying whether she'll have a building to house vacation Bible school. "If we lose this building, that's a sacrifice I'm willing to pay because I'm not willing to waver on my core values," Scott Carlson said. During
the vote, dozens of people from other Kingsburg churches stood outside, holding hands in prayer circles as a show of support. Among them was Kingsburg Mayor John A. Wright.
"We're working with the healing process," said Wright, a Mennonite Brethren. "This is just like losing a loved one." The new pastor of the Valley's most liberal Methodist church observed the vote. The Rev.
Audrey Ward, of Fresno's Wesley United Methodist Church, said, "I don't have any less feeling about Scripture than they do, but I have a different approach."
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