Southern Methodist University wants to cut ties with its church. Can the Church stop it?

The Texas Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday in a battle over whether Southern Methodist University can secede from the United Methodist Church. The university, founded in Dallas by Methodists in the early 20th century, has been trying to navigate its way since 2019, a period of intense unrest within the denomination over whether the church should accept gay clergy or gay marriage.

At issue is who ultimately controls the university: its own board of trustees or the church that founded it more than a century ago and listed its ownership in the statutes of the school. The case will determine whether one of Methodism’s flagship institutions will remain linked to the church, which is the country’s second largest Protestant denomination.

The private university abruptly amended its statutes in 2019 to designate its own board of directors as “its ultimate authority.” The move replaced one of the church’s regional governing bodies, the South Central Jurisdictional Conference, which oversees congregations in eight states, including Texas.

The university’s statutes previously stated that the school would be “forever owned, maintained and controlled” by the conference, which had a say in the selection and approval of board members, including three bishops. United Methodists.

In response, the conference sued Southern Methodist, arguing that the university did not have the authority to declare independence without church approval. A Texas district judge ruled in favor of the university in 2021, but an appeals court overturned the decision.

Southern Methodist University was founded in the early 20th century by Southern Methodists who wanted to establish a flagship institution west of the Mississippi River. But today the university and the Church conference have relatively few practical connections. Conference representatives do not participate in hiring decisions, and the conference has not made any direct financial contributions in “nearly a decade,” according to a brief filed by the university.