The Slovakia District of the Czechia and Slovakia Annual Conference decided on Oct. 15th to leave The United Methodist Church and join the Global Methodist Church, according to an announcement from Bishop Patrick Streiff of the Central and Southern Europe Central Conference, the presiding bishop for the Czechia and Slovakia Annual Conference. Like the decision by the Bulgaria-Romania Annual Conference, the decision was taken without reference to provisions by the Book of Discipline for the separation of branches of the church outside the United States.
While Bishop Streiff announced the decision "with great sadness," the decision is not unexpected. Slovak Methodists were among leaders of the Eastern Europe Wesleyan Covenant Association, along with those from Bulgaria and Romania. As Streiff noted, Slovak leaders had declined to participate in a roundtable process about the future of the Central and Southern Europe Central Conference. And at the Czechia and Slovakia Annual Conference meeting in May, the possibility of separation was openly acknowledged.
The Czechia portion of the now former Czechia and Slovakia Annual Conference intends to remain in The United Methodist Church.
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