A Chapin church that recently adopted a new name now has a new affiliation.

The former Chapin United Methodist Church, which in June became one of three churches in Lexington County and 113 statewide to exit the UMC amid a continuing schism within the denomination, voted that month to change its name to Chapin Christian Community Church.

Now, the church has decided where to align itself moving forward.

“On July 30, 2023, the Chapin Christian family voted 90% in favor of aligning with The Foundry Network, a group of former UM Churches in the Wesleyan Tradition who have come together for even greater Kingdom impact, to work together to reawaken the movement of Christ in our communities,” the church posted to its website. “This network is made up of accountable relationships that are simple and clear and that provide opportunities to learn, encourage, support and advance the Kingdom of God together!”

The website emphasizes that the church’s new name lines up with these values.

“It declares to all where we are (Chapin) who we are (Christian) and what we are (a church open to the community and the world)!” the website states. “The name on the sign may have changed, but we are the same church, rooted deeply in Wesleyan Theology (what we believe) and Methodist Polity (how we do church)!”

According to Baptist News Network, Foundry was announced in September 2022 by the pastor of The Story Church in Houston as a “a collaboration of former United Methodist large-membership churches ... to provide accountability and resources without the constraints of a denomination.”

The three county churches that voted to leave the UMC all listed issues related to sexuality among the reasons that pushed them to do so. 

In explaining their exits, Lexington’s Mt. Horeb, previously the largest methodist church in the state, emphasized that marriage is between a man and a woman, while Gilbert’s Pond Branch Methodist Church expressed that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teachings.

Chapin acknowledged sexuality as a contributing factor also, but told the Chronicle there’s more to it than that.

“While issues surrounding human sexuality capture news headlines, far greater issues divide the denomination related to scriptural authority — what we believe about God, Jesus, and the Holy Bible,” Carolina Fogle, director of communications for the church, said earlier this year. 

The Chapin church chose to leave by a nearly unanimous vote of its congregation in February, with only 24 of its listed congregation of 2,800 voting to remain with the UMC.