Dear Salem Member:

              On Sunday, January 15, 2023, Salem members gathered to vote on the matter of disaffiliation from the United Methodist Church. The voting resulted in a two-thirds majority of members moving to disaffiliate. While the next steps of choosing a direction that best suits our entire congregation moving forward will be challenging, Salem remains committed to serving Jesus and being the open and welcoming congregation to everyone we have always been. 

              With the move to disaffiliate from the UMC underway, our next step is to choose another affiliation or select to be independent.  Cindy Newsom will be providing information regarding each of these options on Sunday, February 26, 2023, at 11:00 am, following a combined worship service at 10:00 am in the NFB.  In addition, we are enclosing with this letter an overview of each of the possible selections, and strongly encourage all members of the Salem Family to research these options and participate in the decisions for our future.  

Choices to be presented are as follows:  Global Methodist, Congregational Methodist, Free Methodist, Church of the Nazarene, Wesleyan or Independent.  Further information on each of these will be available at this meeting along with ample time for questions regarding each of the denominations.  We request the attendance and input of every member of Salem so we can make the best choice going forward. 

Finally, on Sunday, March 5, 2023, all members are invited to join together and vote on a decision for our new affiliation.  A combined service will be held at 10:00 am in the sanctuary.  At the conclusion of the service, we ask all members to please go to the NFB where the vote will be held.  Roll will be taken and the final decision will be based on a simple majority.

              We encourage you to review each of the options and graciously welcome all to come to the informational meeting with questions, comments or suggestions.  We look forward to seeing everyone back at church and pray for a stronger, brighter future for our entire congregation.

Salem will also hold a Miracle Sunday on March 12th.  All donations collected for this event will be used to satisfy our disaffiliation obligations. 

                                                                        Travis Gordon, Chairman

                                                                        Transition Team