“I have observed the growing schism in the United Methodist Church for the past twenty years. Where we find ourselves now has been brewing for a long time and now the time has come. I believe it is time to stop worrying about our denomination and start worrying about our beloved Buncombe Street. That is why I will be voting to disaffiliate from the UMC on October 30.”

— David Stubbs

“BSUMC is our spiritual anchor, the place where our girls were baptized, confirmed and married. Things are changing in subtle ways that go against what we believe in our hearts is God’s will and His word.”

— Lee and Marsha Maxwell

“Our family has been a part of Buncombe Street since 1922, and we have been truly blessed with faithful Methodist grandparents and parents. Over the years, our family has served in many leadership positions at Buncombe Street, including chairing various boards and committees, teaching Sunday School classes, volunteering with weddings, dinners, and more.

We dearly love Buncombe Street and have always felt a sense of family and belonging. Our faith, based on the Word of God, has been nourished, blossomed, and has grown at our church. We believe in the Book of Discipline. We pray that the youth and future generations of our great church will be taught in the same way we have been these last 100 years. If we must separate from the UMC to maintain our traditional values, then we are ready to do so.”

— Mike and Nancy Orders Smith

“The key issue in this debate is the authority of scripture and its role in our church teaching. We are voting to disaffiliate from the UMC to preserve our heritage of strong biblical teaching at Buncombe Street so that we ensure our impact on future generations in Greenville and the world for God’s kingdom. We are a loving and inclusive church body that seeks to follow Jesus and his teachings of love, grace, and humility as well as our need for confession and forgiveness of our sins. We are voting to disaffiliate from the UMC to preserve Buncombe Street as a Bible believing and Bible teaching church and to protect our church from growing changes in theology that are sweeping through the UMC both statewide and nationally.”

— Rob and Angie Gage

“Let us start by saying that the situation in which our church is currently makes us both so sad. April grew up Methodist and was confirmed in a Methodist church. We were married at Buncombe Street and have done life here. Our best friends are here; our children’s best friends are here – we love Buncombe Street. We both truly became lovers of Jesus at Buncombe Street. Our pastors and lay leaders taught us how to have a real, personal relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Our children’s lives were changed through the great programs like Sprouts, Confirmation, Youth, church basketball, and Walk with Christ. It makes us both sad to think that the church we love so deeply is changing.

But we are Christians first and we feel like the United Methodist Church is changing our core beliefs. The Bible is Truth and we are not to change it. We come to church to hear Truth whether we like it or not. We choose Truth and will be voting for disaffiliation on October 30th. We want Buncombe Street to thrive, not simply survive. We both are praying for revival at Buncombe Street and know she will have a bright future if we continue to stand on Truth. We are excited to see where we can go from here.”

— Doug and April Stambaugh

“Our entire family was born, baptized, and confirmed in the Methodist Church. Our youngest was baptized and all three children were confirmed at Buncombe Street. Our 22-year old son’s funeral (celebration of life) was at Buncombe Street. We’ve been members at Buncombe Street 21 years. We LOVE Jesus and Buncombe Street but not what the “United” Methodist are moving toward.

It’s time to stand up! We love the truth of God’s Word; therefore, on Sunday we will vote to leave (disaffiliate from) the United Methodist Church.”

— William and Laura Lynn Luce

“I am a lifelong Methodist. My wife and I joined Buncombe Street 31 years ago and raised our three children here. We have volunteered in many capacities over the years, and I served as the Sports, Recreation, and Leisure Ministry Director at Buncombe Street until my retirement.

We love Buncombe Street and respect everyone here. Unfortunately, the United Methodist Church is moving away from a scripturally based doctrine and leaving us with a focus on social justice issues. We want Buncombe Street to remain a church that is scripturally based. To do that, we must separate from the United Methodist church. We will be voting to disaffiliate from the UMC on October 30.”

— Tom and Julie Buchanan

“Buncombe Street has provided our family with a wonderful church home for over two decades, and we hope this remains true for many years to come. We are concerned, however, that the trajectory of the United Methodist Church has gone in a direction inconsistent with our expectations of the church. We believe that culture should adapt to church instead of our church adapting to changing culture. God’s Church is bigger than a denomination, and Buncombe Street is capable of a thriving discipleship without denominational constraints that don’t reflect our beliefs. Because of these things, we are voting to disaffiliate with the United Methodist Church.”

— Danny and Amy Grover

“We’re strongly in favor of the church maintaining doctrinal integrity and lovingly holding firm to the tenets of the Word of God. As parents of young children, we want them to develop a firm foundation that’s built on a solid doctrine that remains unchanged, yet loving to all, in the face of the ever changing tides of worldly pressures.”

— Ben and Austin Greene