Who Controls the Pulpit? Dallas Megachurch Says Ministers Will Stay After Bishop Removes Them

A bishop has ordered two ministers removed from a prominent Dallas megachurch-but its leaders say they will continue serving. The confrontation at Highland Park raises a question with consequences beyond Sunday worship: who has authority when a congregation declares its independence and its denomination refuses to recognise the departure?

Bishop Ruben Saenz Jr. of the United Methodist Church's Horizon Texas Conference removed senior minister the Rev. Matt Tuggle and former senior minister the Rev. Paul Rasmussen from their leadership positions effective October 29. Highland Park's church council responded by saying Tuggle would preach at its existing campus on Sunday. The council characterised the bishop's action as "retaliatory."

The confrontation follows an October 25-26 congregational vote in which 90.35% of 4,775 votes supported severing ties with the denomination. That represents approximately one-third of the church's reported 15,000 members participating, with more than 400 voters opposing withdrawal. Church leaders announced that the congregation would begin worshipping as Highland Park Methodist Church, dropping "United" from its name.

For Saenz, however, the result does not settle the church's status. He maintains that a local vote cannot independently end its denominational relationship. Highland Park's leaders, meanwhile, are proceeding on the basis that their congregation has chosen to leave. Those competing positions explain why the bishop's removal order has not produced an agreed change in leadership.

Saenz has appointed the Rev. Andy Lewis to lead Highland Park members who wish to remain United Methodist. They are scheduled to worship at nearby University Park United Methodist Church at 10 a.m. on November 1. The arrangement gives those members pastoral support while also making the congregation's division visible: worshippers from the same church will gather at different locations under different leaders.

Behind the pulpit dispute lies an unresolved struggle over governance. The conference sued Highland Park in August over changes to its governing documents. The conference contends that those changes improperly removed denominational oversight; church leaders have defended their actions and challenged the conference's response.

Sunday's services will therefore demonstrate where members choose to worship, without resolving the underlying conflict. The deeper test is whether church and denominational leaders can address competing claims of authority while caring for people whose spiritual home has become the centre of a public confrontation.