Litigation attorney Gavin Parsons recently appeared on the PlainSpoken Podcast to discuss his role in representing Fifth Avenue United Methodist Church of Wilmington in a contentious property dispute with the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church (UMC).
The podcast episode, now available on YouTube, discusses the legal complexities surrounding church property ownership and its broader implications for congregations across the state.
The controversy revolves around the decision of a Fifth Avenue church to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church (UMC) in accordance with the guidelines outlined in the UMC's Book of Discipline, which serves as the authoritative governance document for all United Methodist congregations. However, before the church could conduct the necessary congregational vote for disaffiliation, UMC leaders shut down the church in March 2023, citing "exigent circumstances," and changed the locks, barring the congregation from worshipping or accessing church property.
In response, Fifth Avenue filed a lawsuit alleging breach of contract and fraud and seeking a declaratory judgment on property rights. Although the trial court initially dismissed all of Fifth Avenue's claims, the North Carolina Court of Appeals overturned most of these dismissals.
In his interview with Jeffrey Rickmand, a global Methodist elder in Northeastern Oklahoma, Gavin provided insights during the podcast into the legal arguments supporting Fifth Avenue's position and explained what members of the church have been up to. Watch the full episode video below.
