The United Methodist Church has filed a lawsuit against a breakaway beach church that dropped UMC affiliation from its charter but kept two appointed clergy on staff and banned denominational officials from setting foot on the campus popular with Gulf Coast residents and tourists.
The Alabama-West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church has filed a lawsuit against Perdido Bay Methodist Church, challenging the amendment to its incorporation documents that declare it is no longer affiliated with the United Methodist Church.
On Oct. 31, an attorney for the church sent a letter to the conference giving official notice that Perdido Bay Methodist is no longer a member of the denomination.
“As you are aware, our client previously submitted clear documentation outlining its doctrinal and theological concerns when considering separation last year,” wrote attorney Jonathan Bailie of the National Center for Life and Liberty.
“Any attempt by the conference to access church property will result in a request for immediate departure, followed by removal by law enforcement for trespassing if necessary,” Bailie wrote in his letter to the conference.
That drew a heated response from Panhandle District Superintendent Jean Tippit of the Alabama-West Florida Conference.
“That unholy threat causes me great concern for a multitude of reasons,” Tippit wrote to church members, urging them to join her as she led a United Methodist alternative Sunday meeting location at Big Lagoon State Park.
The Alabama-West Florida Conference filed a lawsuit Nov. 21 against the Perdido Bay Methodist board of trustees and two pastors who had been appointed by the conference, Levi Gardner and Scott Hohn, who stayed with the church as it voted to leave the denomination.
The conference asks an Escambia County judge for “declaratory relief, quiet title, ejectment,” in an effort to gain control of the church property at 13660 Innerarity Point Road in Pensacola, east of Alabama’s Ono Island.
Perdido Bay Methodist was one of more than 40 churches in Alabama and the Florida Panhandle whose requests to leave the denomination were stalled before the Dec. 31, 2023 disaffiliation deadline. Paragraph 2553, a special provision allowing disaffiliation due to disagreement over issues such as gay marriage, expired at that point.
The United Methodist General Conference voted in May 2024 to reverse its longstanding bans on gay marriage and ordination of LGBTQ clergy.
“The oral and written misrepresentations made by the conference to convince and effectively trick our client to not hold a vote to leave the denomination under rule 2553 while such right existed severely prejudiced and permanently injured our client,” Bailie wrote. “Since the time of the conference’s misrepresentations, the General Conference amended the Book of Discipline, changing its views on marriage and gender that have been held by our client since its establishment, the denomination for over two centuries, and by the church for millennia. These changes are in direct conflict with our client’s sincerely held religious beliefs, necessitating their immediate separation from the denomination.”
Churches that were not allowed to leave have adopted a new tactic: either suing the conference, saying the church property belongs to the congregation, not the denomination, or simply voting to change the church’s legal documents that have any mention of the United Methodist Church.
United Methodist Bishop Jonathan Holston, who took over as head of the Alabama-West Florida Conference in September, issued a public letter on the Perdido Bay legal standoff.
“Regrettably, in the wake of a season of disaffiliation and division for our denomination, the Alabama-West Florida Conference finds itself dealing with a serious legal matter involving Perdido Bay United Methodist Church,” Holston wrote. “A group of clergy and laity of Perdido Bay UMC has taken unauthorized and illegal actions to change the deed to the church property and prevent conference leadership from entering the property. These improper actions violate the principles that govern our denomination, including the historic Trust Clause.
“We are deeply saddened to report to you that the Board of Trustees of the Alabama-West Florida Conference, left with no other choice, has filed a lawsuit against individual trustees of Perdido Bay UMC who participated in these actions, as well as against two former Alabama-West Florida clergy. The lawsuit stems from their attempt to sever ties between Perdido Bay UMC and the conference. While we are confident in the strength of our legal position, it is our prayer that reconciliation and understanding will ultimately prevail, and that we can move forward in faithfulness to our shared mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”
See also:
A 198-year-old Methodist church in Alabama asks judge to drop ‘United’ off legal documents
Elba to Theodore: 9 more Alabama churches sue United Methodists to keep property
Selma’s oldest church sues United Methodists in an effort to keep its property
Alabama congregation founded in 1847 sues United Methodists, says it owns church building
Baptists and Methodists helped build Alabama, now they struggle to keep churches, members
