Highland Park United Methodist Church (HPUMC) is moving forward with plans to separate from the United Methodist Church (UMC) after 90% of congregants voted in favor of leaving the denomination earlier this week.
The church, located on the southwest corner of SMU’s campus, is the largest UMC congregation in the U.S. by membership, and has deep ties to the university. Founded in 1916, the church first held services on SMU’s campus before the university donated the land where it stands today, just across the street from the Meadows Museum.
The vote, held on Oct. 25 and 26, comes after a years-long legal dispute between the Highland Park church and the Horizon Texas Conference, the regional governing body of the UMC.
Of the 4,775 votes cast, 90.35% of the congregation voted “yes” to separate from the denomination, consequently affirming their desire to be an independent Methodist church, according to the church council. The church has more than 15,000 members as of 2025.
The conflict began in August when the Horizon Texas Conference sued HPUMC over changes the church made to its governing bylaws in 2022.
The Horizon Texas Conference argued that the changes gave the church council too ...