Denomination

A pastor’s doctrinal break from the Jamaica Baptist Union has become a Supreme Court property fight, with the union citing a 1969 vesting act to claim ownership of the church land he’s tried to register under his own name.

A pastor’s doctrinal break from the Jamaica Baptist Union has become a Supreme Court property fight, with the union citing a 1969 vesting act to claim ownership of the church land he’s tried to register under his own name.

The Reformed Church in America decided to sell its 32,000-square-foot Michigan Regional Center in Grand Rapids, saying the building far exceeds its staffing needs after membership fell from about 105,000 to 79,000.

More than 100 Japanese churches close each year and half of Protestant churches may close by 2030, OMF reported, as a post-war building boom leaves too many buildings for an ageing church.

The United Methodist Judicial Council ruled that a Book of Discipline provision on transferring church property can only be used with denominations that have a General Conference-approved agreement, not as a way for congregations to leave with their buildings.

The United Church of Christ sold its nine-storey Cleveland headquarters for $4.5 million to a developer planning about 120 apartments, and moved to smaller leased offices to spend more on mission.

In a UM News commentary, church real estate consultant Rick Reinhard warned that United Methodist congregations’ property was eating away at the denomination and urged a strategy of data, analysis and options from leasing to redevelopment.

Wesley Church in Quarryville, Pennsylvania, which grew from about 35 to more than 600 worshippers, left the United Methodist Church with its property after paying $158,000, while keeping its nearly $4 million mortgage.