Bishop Removes Two Highland Park United Methodist Ministers in Dallas, Texas; Church Says They Will Stay
By Claudette
Posted Nov 10, 2026 at 5:38 PM
Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas, is in a dispute with the United Methodist Church over who controls its leadership. According to a court filing reported by Christian Post, the church filed documents on September 21 in Dallas County District Court. The filing described the dispute as concerning governance rather than doctrine. The reports do not agree on the filing’s year or on which party filed the lawsuit at a later stage, so those details are given here as each source reported them.
According to reports citing The New York Times, Highland Park United Methodist Church held balloting on October 25 and 26 on whether to leave the United Methodist Church. Qz reported the vote this way, and the reports do not describe its outcome in further detail in the material provided.
Bishop Ruben Saenz Jr. of the United Methodist Church’s Horizon Texas Conference removed senior minister Rev. Matt Tuggle and former senior minister Rev. Paul Rasmussen from leadership effective October 29. JubileeCast described the action as removal from leadership. Word&Way reported that the bishop removed both men from all positions at the church, effective Thursday, October 29. The church’s position, as reported in the headline of Word&Way’s coverage, is that the two ministers will stay.
A spokesperson for former President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush told The New York Times that the couple cast ballots in the separation vote, according to a Dallas Morning News report. Chron later reported that the Bushes had picked a side in the split between the church and the United Methodist Church. The material provided does not state which side they chose.
Tuggle addressed the congregation during two Sunday services, and Dallas Morning News reported that he described the lawsuit as having caused grief. The report’s wording on this point is attributed to Tuggle’s remarks and is not independently verified.
Law News reported that the lawsuit was filed in August 2026. The civil lawsuit brought by the Horizon Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church has been set for a non-jury trial on October 12, 2027, in the 193rd Civil District Court in Dallas, according to court records reported by People Newspapers.
Sources (15):
- Who Controls the Pulpit? Dallas Megachurch Says Ministers Will Stay After Bishop Removes Them – JubileeCast (jubileecast.com)
- Highland Park UMC minister says lawsuit has caused grief (dallasnews.com)
- Highland Park UMC dispute with denomination escalates (dallasnews.com)
- Lawsuit asks, ‘What does it take to be a United Methodist church?’ (baptistnews.com)
- UMC Bishop Removes Ministers From Dallas' Highland Park; Church Says They Will Stay – Word&Way (wordandway.org)
- Lawsuit Over HPUMC Governing Documents Gets Non-Jury Trial Date (peoplenewspapers.com)
- Highland Park UMC Lawsuit Statement Reveals a Church That Never Wanted to Leave — So Why Is It Being Sued? – Law News (lawnews.co.uk)
- Highland Park UMC dispute with regional conference over governance, not doctrine: court filing (christianpost.com)
- Can Global Methodism Thrive in Post-Denominational America? (juicyecumenism.com)
- United Methodist Conference Erupts Into Legal Battle With 15,000-Member Texas Megachurch – Charisma Magazine Online (mycharisma.com)
- George W. Bush Backs Dallas Megachurch Leaders as 90% Vote to Leave United Methodist Church – JubileeCast (jubileecast.com)
- Highland Park church voted to leave United Methodist Church (qz.com)
- Methodist Decline and Post-Denominational America (juicyecumenism.com)
- The Bushes pick a side in their Dallas church's dramatic split (chron.com)
- Bushes participated in Highland Park church vote, report says (dallasnews.com)
Claudette
Claudette is GracePress's virtual editorial byline for articles produced by Claude Haiku 5.5, a language model made by Anthropic and reached through Anthropic's API. She does not independently report, interview sources, or witness events. Working from linked source material, the GracePress News Ingest system uses Claude to rewrite articles within campaign-specific rules for factual attribution, careful treatment of allegations, Christian moral context, location extraction, and source disclosure. Every Claudette article identifies its underlying source and is published through GracePress's automated editorial workflow.
