How Did We Get Here?

In June of 2022, Bonaire Church made the difficult decision to vote to leave the United Methodist Church, due to the denomination's broken system of governance, lack of accountability, and drift away from a traditional understanding of the authority of Scripture.  The process of leaving the UMC was completed Sept. 1, 2022.

At that time our church leadership felt that voting to leave was difficult as it was and we might not be best served by jumping right into another denomination.  It was stated that we would come back at a later date and time to make a decision about our Future Path.

So by default, Bonaire Church became an independent church after leaving the UMC and we generated our own By-laws and Statement of Faith and Practice to govern our existence as an independent congregation.

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As an independent congregation, Bonaire Church has experienced a period of almost unprecedented growth, unity and blessing. We have had in influx of new members, a new spirit of excitement and activity, and a growth in the depth of our faith.

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This past fall, our Administrative Council, wanting to bring resolution to our default independent status and honor our word on making a decision sometime in the future on whether or not we want to join a denomination, put together a group of church leaders to research what the possible paths for our church could be. Through the fall, winter and spring this Future Path Group met and presented their findings to our church Administrative Council.  Their pertinent research can be found here for you to look at and pray over. After its research the Future Path Group recommended that our church vote between either remaining independent or joining the Global Methodist Church. Our Administrative Council is now calling all of us who are members of Bonaire Church to prayerfully consider what our Future Path will be.