Highland Park Methodist Church has asked a Dallas County judge to stop the United Methodist Church’s regional conference from using its former name and related branding, adding a fight over identity and donations to an existing governance dispute.
The church filed its application for a temporary restraining order and temporary injunction on November 10 in the 193rd District Court. It seeks restrictions on the Horizon Texas Annual Conference’s use of Highland Park United Methodist Church, HPUMC, and other similar names for worship, fundraising, and public communications.
The church alleges the conference’s use of the name and branding has confused congregants about services and communications and prompted donors to withhold contributions.
The request follows an October 25–26 congregational vote to sever ties with the denomination. UM News reported that 90.35% of 4,775 votes supported leaving, citing the church’s announcement.
Approximately one-third of the church’s 15,000 congregants, including Former U.S. President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush, participated in the vote. The church now operates as Highland Park Methodist Church.
The conference maintains that the vote alone did not end the congregation’s United Methodist affiliation. Bishop Ruben Saenz Jr., the leader of the Horizon Texas Annual Conference, appointed the Rev. Andy Lewis to lead Highland Park United Methodist Church, and members who wanted to remain with the denomination began worshipping separately and will temporarily use Protho Hall on the SMU campus as their new meeting location beginning November 15.
Litigation over ownership of the church property at 3300 Mockingbird Lane is underway, according to UM News.
“A congregational vote does not, by itself, sever a local church’s relationship with The United Methodist Church,” Saenz wrote in a letter posted on the conference’s website.
The conference also argues that civil courts cannot decide ecclesiastical issues and that only United Methodist entities may use United Methodist in their names, according to its response quoted by PeopleNewspapers.
The dispute began with changes the 110-year-old church made to its governing documents in 2022. Bishop Saenz said he learned of the changes in late 2025 and asked church leaders to restore provisions reflecting United Methodist governance under the denomination’s Book of Discipline. Church leaders declined, maintaining that they lawfully adopted the changes and notified conference officials of the corporate name change in January 2023.
The Horizon Texas Conference sued in August 2026. Church leaders subsequently called the October 25–26 vote on leaving the denomination. The church then began operating as Highland Park Methodist Church, dropping “United” from its public name.
A bench trial between the two church groups is set for October 12, 2027, per PeopleNewspapers.
