Conservative Church Wins Appeal in UMC Property Battle

by Jim Brown and Jenni Parker
August 30, 2004

(AgapePress) - The pastor of a California congregation that left the United Methodist Church (UMC) because of doctrinal differences says he is "utterly thrilled" by a unanimous ruling that allows his church to retain its building and surrounding property.

Four years ago, St. Luke's cut ties with the UMC, which in turn sued for one million dollars worth of property for which it did not pay. But a state appellate court has now ruled that St. Luke's Community Church in Fresno is not the property of the California-Nevada Annual Conference of the UMC.

That August 13 decision by the 5th District Court of Appeal overturns the ruling of a Superior Court justice who said the denomination owns the property where St. Luke's holds its services.

An attorney for the UMC says the denomination will very likely appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the outcome, he warns, could significantly influence future dealings between congregations and their parent churches.

According to a Fresno Bee newspaper report, St. Luke's severed ties with the UMC in 2000 by rewriting its articles of incorporation. That same year, the California-Nevada Annual Conference had suspended the church's then pastor, David Wainscott, who objected to regional leaders' failure to punish clergy for blessing same-sex unions.

In separating from the UMC, the church contended that the denominational leadership had broken with the United Methodist Book of Discipline, and for this reason the congregation was justified in declaring that the conference did not own the church's building and grounds. The conference sued over the broken trust, and in response, St. Luke filed documents in which the church argued that it is a theologically conservative body, while "the conference has gone the other way."

The church's current pastor, Kevin Smith, says the church's disagreement is basically over scripture and deals with such foundational questions as "Is Jesus fully human and fully divine?" and "Are the scriptures the Word of God and authoritative in our lives?"

And although some have suggested the dispute is over the issue of homosexuality, Smith insists that it is broader than that single issue. "That's just a small part of it," he says. "In the Methodist Church in California and in the Western Jurisdiction, there are some people who do not accept the authority of scripture and really have strayed from the church that John Wesley founded."

The minister says he feels sure the California-Nevada Conference will appeal the ruling, even though it has been using pension money to fund its legal action. He notes that state law has always been on the congregation's side, but what happens from here on is "God's business."

The four-year property dispute has been difficult for St. Luke's, which has focused its ministries on the surrounding neighborhood since 1949. But Smith says he and his congregation are prepared to follow whatever direction the Lord leads. "It is tough, but at the same time, it's the Lord's property," he says, "and if the Lord lets us remain here to be stewards of his property, we'll remain. If the Lord calls us to be a community somewhere other than this property, we're going to follow Him."

An elder at St. Luke's told the Fresno Bee that the four-year property dispute has "been a battle" for the church, but one that has drawn the congregation together and made it healthier than it has ever been.