By Rev. Jay Therrell
April 11, 2023
Imagine arriving at your church on a Sunday evening expecting to meet with the district superintendent, a required step in the disaffiliation process, so you could hold your church conference…only to learn your church had been closed and your property seized. That’s exactly what happened to Fifth Avenue United Methodist Church on the evening of Sunday, March 26, 2023.
Fifth Avenue is a small church. It has around 205 members and an average worship attendance of 20. Yet, those faithful followers of Jesus had discerned that disaffiliation was the best path forward for them. They had followed the annual conference-outlined disaffiliation process and were expecting the leadership of the North Carolina Conference under Bishop Connie Shelton to do the same.
Instead, the district superintendent, Tara Lain, arrived along with Bishop Shelton, the conference chancellor, and other conference leaders to inform the congregation that they had declared “exigent circumstances” to exist under paragraph 2549.3.b of The Book of Discipline. Moreover, they announced that pursuant to the same paragraph they had closed the church and all its assets had immediately transferred to the North Carolina Conference.
By 8am the following morning, people observed the locks on the church being changed. Only the pastor and custodian have keys. Additionally, the North Carolina conference filed an affidavit of declaration of ownership declaring they had taken over the church’s assets and filed it in the New Hanover County public records.
After 176 years, Fifth Avenue’s final worship service was this past Sunday: Easter. Church members have been told they may come in at an approved time to remove any personal items they may have left behind.
The Text of Paragraph 2549.3.b
Paragraph 2549.3.b of The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church (2016) gives bishops and cabinets broad powers to close churches and take their assets if “exigent circumstances” exist. The paragraph states,
At any time between sessions of annual conference, if the presiding bishop, the majority of the district superintendents, and the appropriate district board of church location and building all consent, they may, in their sole discretion, declare that exigent circumstances exist that require immediate protection of the local church’s property, for the benefit of the denomination. In such case, title to all the real and personal, tangible and intangible property of the local church shall immediately vest in the annual conference board of trustees who may hold or dispose of such property in its sole discretion, subject to any standing rule of the annual conference. (emphasis added)
The paragraph then goes on to define exigent circumstances:
Exigent circumstances include, but are not limited to, situations where a local church no longer serves the purpose for which it was organized or incorporated (¶¶201-204) or where the local church property is no longer used, kept, or maintained by its membership as a place of divine worship of The United Methodist Church. When it next meets, the annual conference shall decide whether to formally close the local church.
Sole Discretion
Paragraph 2549.3.b gives the bishop and cabinet “sole discretion” to decide if exigent circumstances exist. It defines “exigent circumstances” with a definition that says they “…include, but are not limited to….” The conference’s Board of Trustees is given “sole discretion” to sell the assets. The trustees can seemingly sell the assets prior to the annual conference meeting to decide if it will formally close the church. This is a broad paragraph that has potential for extreme misuse.
Fifth Avenue is indeed a small church, but it had not stopped worshipping. They had an appointed pastor from the annual conference. It’s worth noting that according to the latest statistics (2020) from the General Council on Finance and Administration (www.umdata.org) that Fifth Avenue, with a worship attendance of 20, is still larger than 235 of the then 785 churches in the North Carolina Conference.
The Alleged Reason for Seizing the Assets
The affidavit filed in the New Hanover County records by Gray Southern, assistant to Bishop Connie Shelton, stated
WHEREAS, the original property for the Church was donated to the Church trustees by Miles Costin in trust pursuant to a deed which provided that the land was donated for the purpose of constructing a place of worship at which the ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church South (now the United Methodist Church) would be permitted to preach God’s Holy word “forever hereafter.”
The affidavit then states
WHEREAS, though the Church has a rich and robust history of serving its membership and the local community as a thriving United Methodist Church, membership and missional activity of the Church has recently declined and the Church has a current membership of 205 and average weekly attendance of approximately 20 members…
The affidavit goes on to say
WHEREAS, contrary to the expressed intention of the donor of the original property for the Church that the property be used “forever after” as a place for preaching God’s Word by United Methodist ministers, the congregation has initiated a procedure seeking for the Church to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church…”
Apparently, the sole stated reason for declaring exigent circumstances, seizing the property, and closing the 176-year church is that it has declined to 205 members and a worship attendance of 20 and that it is seeking to disaffiliate. By that standard, there are many more churches in the North Carolina Conference, and the entire denomination, that should be very worried that they are next.
Poking Holes in the Logic of the North Carolina Conference
The data from the General Council on Finance and Administration states that the average worship attendance for Fifth Avenue has fluctuated since 2017 from 33 to “approximately 20.” That’s the last six years – hardly “recently” – as the North Carolina Conference affidavit claims. Why not take this action back in 2017? The answer is the church wasn’t seeking to disaffiliate then.
Moreover, it would be interesting to travel back in time to meet Mr. Miles Costin who donated the property for the church in 1847. One wonders if Mr. Costin saw the present direction of The United Methodist Church whether he would want Fifth Avenue to continue in the UMC or get out as fast as possible so it could ensure that it was proclaiming an orthodox, traditionalist Gospel message. While we will never know for sure, it’s hard to imagine Mr. Costin would be an advocate for the wildly progressive agenda that today’s UMC embraces.
Property Grab
It’s hard to see these sad circumstances as anything but a property grab. The North Carolina Conference has already had 249 churches disaffiliate. Many of those churches were large and paid significant apportionments. One must wonder if the North Carolina Conference is concerned for its financial future and whether it may now be engaging in a strategy of closing small-attendance churches so that it can seize the assets and dispose of them to help the conferences’ finances.
Prospects for the Future
Sadly, Fifth Avenue doesn’t have many options to try and undo this miscarriage of justice. They can certainly fight the closure at the next meeting of the North Carolina Conference in June, but with so many traditionalists having departed the conference already, there may not be the votes to help them.
They could ask Bishop Shelton for a bishop’s decision of law that would then be reviewed by the Judicial Council. The earliest they would likely get a ruling would be mid to late fall of this year and who knows what the Judicial Council might do. Their rulings have not been friendly to traditionalists in the past couple of years. By that time, the ability to disaffiliate under 2553 would likely be gone because there would be no annual conference meeting to approve the church’s decision.
The final option would be to pursue a lawsuit which is expensive and time-consuming.
It Didn’t Have To Be This Way
This is not how Christians should treat fellow brothers and sisters. Seizing assets and throwing people out of their church home with no consultation or notice is the kind of actions that take place in dictatorships. I pray Bishop Shelton and her cabinet will reflect on their actions, realize the harm they’ve caused both to Fifth Avenue and the denomination, and undo their decision.
The Rev. Jay Therrell is the president of the Wesleyan Covenant Association and an ordained elder in the Global Methodist Church.