The United Methodist Church’s Horizon Texas Conference is suing Highland Park United Methodist Church—claiming the Dallas megachurch improperly moved to end oversight by the denomination and its own congregants.
The dispute deals with changes Highland Park’s church council made in 2022 to the congregation’s articles of incorporation and bylaws, including altering the church’s legal documents to concentrate sole authority in the church council, changing the corporation’s name to Highland Park Methodist Church, and removing all references to the United Methodist Church from its governing documents.
Since October 2025—when conference leadership learned of the changes—the conference and church leaders have engaged in private discussions to try to resolve their differences. On August 10, after those discussions broke down, the conference filed a lawsuit in state civil court, challenging the changes.
