The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that a regional body of The United Methodist Church can sue Southern Methodist University over its effort to disaffiliate from the denomination.

The higher court's ruling comes as part of the church’s lawsuit against SMU, which has challenged the authority UMC has over the university.

The Texas high court issued a mostly unanimous opinion June 27 upholding the regional unit’s right to governance over SMU.

In a legal win for the UMC, the Texas Supreme Court last week ruled that the church's South Central Jurisdictional Conference can move forward with its suit against the university over breach of ...