The senior minister of Highland Park United Methodist Church, the Rev. Matt Tuggle, said in a video message Wednesday that clergy and staff were "caught completely off guard" by a lawsuit brought against the church by the United Methodist Church's regional conference.
The Horizon Texas Annual Conference, the regional governing body of the UMC that oversees churches in North Texas, announced Tuesday that it had filed a lawsuit against one of its largest and most prominent congregations, accusing Highland Park UMC leadership of quietly trying to sever its connection with the conference and denomination.
Addressing the congregation in his video, Tuggle said the church was disappointed and bewildered by the action.
"Many of you are probably wondering why you heard about this in the media first and not directly from us," he said. "There's one reason for this. I want you to know that myself, our clergy, our staff and lay leadership were caught completely off guard by the filing of this lawsuit."
The video was emailed to the congregation in a message late Wednesday night.
Bishop Ruben Saenz, the leader of the conference, said Tuesday that the conference has repeatedly sought to resolve the disagreement with Highland Park UMC since last fall, and that church leaders have not cooperated. Tuggle refuted this claim.
Tuggle said the church met with the bishop twice in the last week and offered proposals of "how to move forward together."
"At no point did the bishop give any indication that his staff had been preparing for legal action for several months and that a lawsuit was pending," Tuggle said.
"We were completely blindsided," he said.
Related: Regional body of United Methodist Church sues Highland Park UMC
A conference spokesperson said late Wednesday that conference leaders have urged Highland Park UMC leaders to "bring the articles and bylaws back into alignment with United Methodist governance" since October.
The conference said in the lawsuit that the church changed its governing documents in 2022 and 2023 to remove all references to the United Methodist Church, the conference and the Book of Discipline, the UMC's governing text. These documents, the conference said, included the church's bylaws and its articles of incorporation.
Tuggle also refuted the allegations in the lawsuit. The senior minister, who leads the congregation of about 15,000 members, said that in 2020, Texas courts "gave important guidance on managing church affairs under neutral principles of Texas law."
That prompted the church to revise its corporate documents, Tuggle said. A spokesperson for the church said that Tuggle was referencing an opinion from the Texas Supreme Court in 2020 between the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth and the Episcopal Church, but declined to give further details.
"Everything we did was by the book and in the best interest of our church," Tuggle said. "Simply put, this lawsuit is an unwarranted overreach."
Tuggle said the church has honored its commitments to the conference, including financial contributions.
Related: Leader of Highland Park United Methodist Church gives final sermon ahead of retirement
Documents obtained by The Dallas Morning News from the office of the Texas Secretary of State show that the church in November 2022 changed its name in state filings to Highland Park Methodist Church, and amended its articles of incorporation.
In December 2022, the church filed a document with the office for its assumed name to remain Highland Park United Methodist Church, "under which the business or professional service is or is to be conducted," documents said. The church's website still bears the name Highland Park United Methodist Church.
The conference said in the lawsuit that the church did not follow conference procedures or the Book of Discipline when it made changes to its organizing documents.
The complaint asks the court to affirm the original governing documents before they were changed. The document said the civil court can declare this judgment without "delving into ecclesiastical matters."
The conference has said it filed the lawsuit Monday in Dallas County district court. As of Wednesday evening, the lawsuit did not appear online in the Dallas County court records, but a copy was previously provided to The News by the conference.
Earlier this year, Highland Park UMC's lead pastor, the Rev. Paul Rasmussen, stepped down after he was previously diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Rasmussen had served as lead pastor since 2013 and is now listed as minister-in-residence on the church's staff website.
In the video message, Tuggle asked for prayers for the church, its leaders and the leaders of the conference.
"Be assured that through all of this we will continue to act with honesty, humility, care and grace," he said.
This story has been updated to include comment from the Horizon Texas Conference.
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