George W. Bush Backs Highland Park Leaving UMC

Former President George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush voted with their longtime Dallas church to leave the United Methodist Church, and they have publicly backed lead pastor Matt Tuggle in the congregation's fight with the denomination. The Bushes, both 80, have attended Highland Park Methodist Church since the late 1980s, and their chief of staff confirmed they took part in the congregation's vote to disaffiliate.

It is not every day that a former president picks a side in a church fight. But this one is about a building, a bank account, and a 110-year-old congregation that says its leaders have broken its trust.

When the Bushes walked into the voting hall in late October, they were not just members casting a ballot. They were the most famous faces in the pews, and their choice landed like a verdict of its own.

Highland Park vote: 90 percent choose to leave the UMC

Highland Park voted on October 25 and 26, and the result was overwhelming. Of 4,775 votes cast, 90.35 percent chose to leave the United Methodist Church. The church council announced the result in a letter to members on October 26, and the congregation began worshipping the following Sunday under a shorter name: Highland Park Methodist Church.

"Beginning this Sunday, we will worship as Highland Park Methodist Church, with the commitment to protect the mission, ministry, and future of our Church while still honoring our history and past," the council's letter said. The church set a goal of completing the work of seperation by December 1, 2026.

The numbers explain why the whole denomination is watching. Founded in 1916 as University Church, Highland Park is one of the largest and wealthiest Methodist congregations in America, with about 15,700 members and more than 5,000 regular attendees as of 2025. A church that size does not walk away quietly, and its leaders knew the vote would be challenged the moment it was counted.

Why George W. Bush sided with Matt Tuggle

Freddy Ford, the former president's chief of staff, told The New York Times that the Bushes participated in the vote and support Tuggle, the church's senior minister. "The Bushes are grateful to Reverend Matt Tuggle for so faithfully guiding the congregation through these rough waters," Ford said.

Tuggle is the man at the center of the storm. He is one of three senior ministers at Highland Park, and all three recommended breaking away from the denomination.

For the Bushes, who have sat under his preaching for years, the choice was personal as well as theological. They were not voting on an abstract principle. They were standing with a pastor they trust.

The split has a long backstory. The denomination's move to affirm same-sex marriage and gay clergy pushed thousands of conservative congregations to leave between 2019 and 2023, while a temporary exit clause let them take their property with them. That window has now closed, and the church's rulebook, the Book of Discipline, offers no formal path for a congregation to leave with its property today.

Bishop Saenz rejects the vote as Highland Park fights in court

The regional body, the Horizon Texas Conference, sued Highland Park in August in Dallas County District Court, saying the church was trying to unilaterally sever its ties. The lawsuit followed changes the church made to its governing documents, changes the conference said were an attempt to chart a more independent course.

Bishop Ruben Saenz Jr., who leads the conference, rejected the validity of the October vote. He appointed the Rev. Andy Lewis as Highland Park's new pastor and assigned Tuggle "to other duties." The conference's position is blunt: a congregational vote does not, by itself, sever a local church's relationship with The United Methodist Church.

"While individuals are free to make their own decisions about their religious affiliation, a congregational vote does not, by itself, sever a local church's relationship with The United Methodist Church," the conference said in a statement. The denomination also points to its trust clause, which says it keeps ownership of a church's property if the congregation votes to leave.

That is the heart of the fight now. Highland Park says the conference and its bishop have "irrevocably broken the bond of trust" between the church and the denomination. The denomination says the congregation cannot simply vote its way out.

Both sides have lawyers, and neither side looks ready to blink, as the wider church watches a case that could shape how other congregations try to leave, like the faith leaders weighing the midterms in Christian Leaders React to Midterm 'Catastrophe'.

What happens next for Highland Park Methodist Church

For now, the congregation carries on as Highland Park Methodist Church, dropping the word "United" but keeping its Methodist identity. Sunday worship continues, the ministries run, and the church's leaders are working through the practical changes the split requires, from letterheads to legal filings.

The Bushes' public backing changes the temperature of the dispute. A local church fight becomes a national story when a former president is in it, and the denomination now faces a congregation with famous friends and deep pockets. Other churches watching the case will be asking a simple question: if Highland Park can leave and keep its building, who is next?

That question has no answer yet, and the court will have a large say in it. What began as a quiet argument over bylaws has become the most-watched church split in America, and the man who once sat in the Oval Office has made his choice clear. The congregation that voted by 90 percent to leave is not backing down — and neither, it seems, is the denomination.

Faith and politics keep colliding in public life, from Senate races to Supreme Court cases, as Pastor Adam Hamilton Preaches After Historic Senate Win and Supreme Court Leans to Catholic Schools in Colorado Case show. The next move belongs to a judge in Dallas.

But the most surprising part of this story is yet to come — keep reading.