First Church-OKC exit case continues with focus on mission, members and mixed messages

Did regional United Methodist Church leaders plot for months to seize the property of a historic local church and evict its congregation — all in an effort to keep a United Methodist presence in downtown Oklahoma City?

This question came up over and over again on Friday during a court hearing regarding First United Methodist Church of Oklahoma City's disaffiliation dispute. Several Oklahoma United Methodist Conference leaders who took the witness stand on the second day of testimony told First Church members and Oklahoma County District Court Judge Aletia Timmons they had no plans to close First Church, or expel its members who are attempting to cut ties with the United Methodist denomination.

More: What we know: Oklahoma churches seeking to cut ties with United Methodist denomination

Several First Church members said regional leaders sent the congregation a completely different message, particularly when the regional leaders cancelled the congregation's disaffiliation vote five days before it was scheduled to take place in January. As a result of the cancelled vote, among other things, First Church trustees filed suit on June 1, accusing regional conference leaders of violating their contract with the church to prevent the congregation from ending their affiliation with the United Methodist Church.

At that time, First Church's trustees were granted a temporary restraining order to prevent regional leaders from evicting the congregation and seizing roughly $30 million in assets, including the church building at 131 NW 4. First Church leaders claim the matter is about regional leaders' alleged breach of contract and it is not an ecclesiastical issue but essentially a dispute over the church's property.

Hardy Patton, vice chairman of First Church's board of trustees, said the congregation hopes that Timmons will declare First Church disaffiliated because regional conference leaders prevented the church from disaffiliating in April.

The hearing is expected to continue for a third day at 10 a.m. Monday.

Friday, in a prepared statement, Oklahoma United Methodist Conference leaders said they continued to "believe the courts have no role to play in the management of church affairs including local church disaffiliation from The United Methodist Church."

"While we wish this issue of church polity were not being decided in a secular courtroom, we are grateful for the process and the thorough hearing," they said.

Is St. Luke's exit a factor?

The international United Methodist Church ― one of Oklahoma's largest faith groups ― is fracturing over disagreements, particularly about the scriptural compatibility of same-sex marriage and the ordination of openly gay clergy. The issues are coming to a head for some churches, prompting them to seek to leave the denomination before a special Dec. 31 provision runs out, which allows them a "gracious exit" with their property and other assets.

During his testimony on Friday, David Hancock, chairman of First Church's administrative council and a member of the church since 1991, said the congregation felt that the "the rug was took out from under us" when regional leaders cancelled their disaffiliation vote. The planned congregational vote was a key component of a disaffiliation process created by the regional conference.

He said he thought that First Church became a target because St. Luke's — until recently, the largest United Methodist Church in Oklahoma — had also notified regional leaders in January that it planned to pursue disaffiliation. St. Luke's, 222 NW 15, is just north of downtown Oklahoma City but has long been considered as a downtown church. Hancock said he met with regional leaders about the canceled vote and told them about the congregation's frustration about being singled out for a viability study that was not required for St. Luke's and dozens of other disaffiliating Oklahoma churches.

"I said you have to be aware that this appears to our congregation as a delay tactic," Hancock said.

The conference said in a statement Friday that the viability study had been requested and fulfilled without complication by multiple churches in the Oklahoma Annual Conference as a routine part of the process that is documented in the disaffiliation agreement.

"It is important to note that this viability study does not stop a church from voting to disaffiliate, and it does not stop the annual conference from ratifying their vote," the conference wrote. "It does, however, ensure that all the key information is made available for the conference members to decide on ratification."

Even so, Hancock emphasized that he felt that First Church's downtown location is a key factor in the current impasse. The First Church leader said at one point, the Rev. Patricia "Tish" Malloy, the regional conference's director of transitional ministries, told him that the "United Methodist Church will have a downtown presence in Oklahoma City and it will either be St Luke's or First Church, and you can decide who that will be."

The regional conference's attorney, Ross Plourde, asked Hancock if he was paraphrasing Malloy's words but Hancock said he was quoting her verbatim. He said First Church felt that St. Luke's wasn't required to have a viability study likely because they had more members and money. Hancock said when a regional conference leader asked him about the square footage and property value of First Church's building at NW 4 and Robinson, he came to the conclusion that "they want our building."

"We were the low-hanging fruit," he said.

Meanwhile, the Rev. Derrek Belase, the regional conference's director of connectional ministries, said he and some other conference leaders had been concerned that "our downtown witness is shifting," but the conference was not planning to close First Church, seize the property or expel its congregation.

More: First Church files lawsuit First Church files lawsuit over downtown OKC property

Mission and members

Some of the other key points discussed in the hearing focused on the viability study that was required to assess First Church's financial, missional and membership viability. Testimony included information about:

• Membership reports: Regional leaders' interest in how people were purged from First Church's membership rolls at certain points because of discrepancies they found in the church's membership reports. Plourde introduced information that First Church's membership report included more than 2,000 members one year but the rolls had been reduced to just under 500 members in a subsequent report. The Rev. Victor McCullough, who was First Church's district superintendent from 2018 to June 30, said there was a required process to purge membership rolls and First Church didn't seem to follow those guidelines. He said membership was an important part of the viability study. Hancock and other First Church leaders testified that the church's pastors who are appointed by the bishop were responsible for keeping membership records.

• Reactions: First Church leaders' assertion that regional conference leaders seemed unconcerned about the congregation's frustration, dissatisfaction and hurt about how they felt they were being treated by the regional conference. First Church leaders said one regional leader seemed "flippant" when he was asked if the process for the viability study could be sped up.

• Financial resources: The regional conference's attorney, Plourde, said a United Methodist entity had given First Church a loan after its sanctuary was destroyed in the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing in 1995. First Church leaders who testified Friday said they weren't aware of any specifics about this matter. Hancock said the church's application for an outreach grant was rejected by the regional conference in 2014. He and another First Church administrative council leader said after the congregation began to pursue disaffiliation, regional conference leaders said they wanted to partner with them by offering financial resources for outreach efforts. Hancock said the administrative council saw this as an attempt to "bribe" First Church to stay within the United Methodist fold.

• Delagate numbers: First Church's attorney Cara Nicklas again made the assertion that First Church had been on track to disaffiliate with 55 other Oklahoma churches that severed ties with the United Methodist denomination in April but their efforts were thwarted by regional conference members' viability study requirement. Patton, First Church's trustee board vice chairman, testified that delegates from disaffiliated churches would not be allowed to vote in the regional conference's future disaffiliation gatherings and fewer disaffiliating delegates would likely mean it would be more difficult for churches hoping to have their disaffiliation requests ratified at an October special meeting to meet the threshold for disaffiliation.

• Outreach: McCullough said regional leaders were concerned that First Church was not living up to its mission responsibilities or potential for outreach to the downtown area. By contrast, Hancock said the congregation has always known that its downtown mission field is a place in transition and has tried to reach out accordingly. Patton said church members volunteer with Skyline Urban Ministries and Exodus House and also hosts children's activities and Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon-related events, among other activities.

• Continued meetings: Regional leaders' concerns about whether The Christ Experience, a smaller United Methodist congregation, would be allowed to continue meeting at First Church if the larger congregation disaffiliated.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: First Church United Methodist hearing reveals location may be factor