Long legal battles emerge over the closure of the historical methodist church in Wilmington - Starnewsonline.com

The Court of Appeal of the National Assembly ruled in favor of the congregation of the United Methodist Church on Fifth Avenue, which was closed last year by the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church.
The church was closed before the gathering could formally vote for dissatisfaction with the United Methodist Church.
The congregation hopes to regain control of the church building and continue to worship there.

A historic church in the center of Wilmington, which was forced to end last year, now has a chance to reopen thanks to the favorable legal decision, rendered on the eve of New Year’s Eve by the North Carolina Court of Appeal.

But while the decision gives hope for the meeting of the United Methodist Church on Fifth Avenue, which was founded in 1847, there is still a long legal battle to determine the fate of the church building, which dates from 1890 and the valuable part of the valuable part of The land that is so sits on.

The Court of Appeal overturned the court’s decision by allowing the judicial court to rule on the congregation claims, which include fraud and violation of the contract. Last March, the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church closed the United Methodist Church on Fifth Avenue, citing decreasing membership.

At that time, church members said they were in the process of “dissatisfaction” by the ruling conference of the church. The United Methodist Conference has lost about one -third of its churches in North Carolina because of such disagreements that one -sex marriages can be performed in these churches, something that the conference allows, but many congregations are opposed.

Gavin B. Parsons, a lawyer at the Law Firm Ward & Smith, who represents the meeting of FIFTH Avenue United Methodist, said that in conversations with the conference attorneys, “they stated that they plan to appeal the Supreme Court of the Criminal Code.

In a statement, the Reverend Tara Line, Chief of Harbor County at the NC Conference of the United Methodist Church, confirmed that the church would appeal.

“The conference with respect does not agree with the decision of the Court of Appeal and plans to file a notice of appeal and a petition for a discretionary examination to ask the Supreme Court of North Carolina to review and annul the Court of Appeal’s decision,” Line said.

The Supreme Court may or may not take the case, Parsons said. If they do, another solution may not be made for more than a year.

If the court refuses to take the case, “we return to the court court for months or years of lawsuit,” Parsons said.

He added that the church gathering, which numbered about 100, when the church building was closed, continued to meet elsewhere throughout this test, “although Parsons said he did not know where.

Congregation members contacted this story from The Starnews, said they were advised not to speak publicly about the case until the legal process was reproduced.

“Their goal is to return the building,” Parsons said, and part of the Court of Appeal’s decision does not allow the conference to make changes to the building while court disputes continue.

Last year, the conference said it planned what it called “rebirth” of the ownership of the Church of the Fifth Avenue, “where location and church space can meet the basic needs of uncovered people, to become a place to gather adults and people Disabled, provide damage, provide damage, provide damage to the elderly and persons, provide damage to shelter and assistance after major storms and to be a welcoming space for worship and study of one or more new communities of the United Methodist Faith. “

The activity in the church as it closes seems minimal. Outside the church, a community cabinet was installed, providing a place for people to donate supplies to the needy. Anyone who needs are allowed to take canned goods, diapers and other items that accumulate there.

Parsons said he realized that the building, which seems to be in good shape, takes care of a management company reserved by the conference. Among other objects, the church contains a very old and valuable body, Parsons said.

“While this case is being held, the conference is careful to maintain the Church of the Fifth Avenue in good working order and periodically hold events open to the public,” Line wrote in a statement. “The conference ultimately hopes to take advantage of the property in ways that will be a blessing for the community and will serve the mission of the United Methodist Church, but will not make commitments regarding the long -term use of the property while the trial is the trial Finally and finally resolved. “

The church is historically significant. Crying from the historical Foundation Wilmington hangs outside the front entrance, and a stone marker nearby tells the story of one of the most amazing and completed church members in 1880 while in Wilmington as a member of the revenue -cutting service service, a predecessor on the US coastal security.

The church members settled on Song to study at Trinity College (now Duke University), and when he returned to China Song, he became a powerful figure in Chinese nationalist politics. One of his daughters married the nationalist political leader General Chiang Kai-Shek, while another married Sun Yat -se, who became the first president of China after the 1911 revolution to overthrow the Imperial Qing Dynasty.

As for the contemporary dispute between the church and its congregation, Parsons said that while other Methodist churches in North Carolina were allowed to go through the process of dissatisfaction, Fifth Avenue was closed before the full congregation could have an official vote on the subject S

In a statement, Ward and Smith said that “the court’s decision strengthened the rights of local churches to outline their own paths without losing their most lifelong physical and social assets.”

In the statement of its company, Parsons said that “the court’s decision again confirms that although civil courts do not interfere with the issues of religious doctrine, they may apply neutral legal principles for resolving property and contracts between local churches and their denominations “.

Long legal battles emerge over the closure of the historical methodist church in Wilmington – Starnewsonline.com

By james art

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