Many of you are aware of several of our local United Methodist congregations having to close their doors and turn over their property to the United Methodist denomination.

These congregations find they are no longer aligned with the current denominational teachings about Scripture, and once they decide to disassociate themselves, the denomination claims rights to the properties that house these congregations.

This same thing has happened and is happening with the Church of the Brethren, and other denominations in many places. It is a long-standing practice and one accepted as law, that the denomination ultimately holds the title to any church property (church building, grounds, parsonage, etc.), that was functioning under their denominational umbrella (name). Those congregations now fi nd themselves without a home, and they have been or are being disbursed to fi nd another location or another church to attend.

Leaving your building and fellowship is like being evicted from your home, even though everything is paid up, and essentially the “landlord” never bought the property ... you did. It is hard to imagine that something that was purchased by a group of people, who paid for upkeep, insurance, utilities and pastor’s salary out of their own pockets, now can be claimed by an entity that did not contribute monetarily to the success of that church.

What have these churches, and other churches in the area contributed to our communities? The list is long, very long. There is not enough room here to write it, but their presence here has an impact.

What can you do to help these congregations who fi nd themselves soon to be locked out of their own buildings? Bills are currently before the W.Va. House of Representatives (HB 4515) and Senate (SB 533) to allow congregations to retain ownership of their property after disassociation from their parent organization. To pass these bills, more delegates and senators need to get on board and sponsor these bills, and you can get on the phone or email and tell them to do so. Don’t be afraid to let your legislators know what you want them to do - they are in Charleston to represent us and what we want. How will they know what we want if we don’t tell them? And time is limited, so get busy and say your piece about this unfair practice. All you who are rolling your eyes and saying that what we want doesn’t matter, is not true. I can tell you from experience that a call to our delegate, John Paul Hott, brought attention to an unfair bill that was proposed against newspapers, as he went to bat for us. Here is the contact information from those who represent our area:

Sen. Randy E. Smith (R) Tucker Co., , District 14 Capitol: 304-357-7995  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

(R) Sen. Jay Taylor District 14 Taylor Co. Capitol: 304-357-7914 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Del. John Paul Hott (R) Grant County, District 85 Capitol: 304-340-3399 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Here’s who not to call, because they are already 100% on board and have been fl ooded with calls:

Senators sponsoring SB 533 - Morris, Azinger and Bartlett and Delegates sponsoring HB 4515 - Ward, Burkhammer, Butler, White, Coop-Gonzalez, Pinson, Kimble, Ridenour, Bell, McGeehan and Jennings

All you need to do is call or email any senator/ delegate and ask that they support the House Bill 4515 and Senate Bill 533. Go to wvlegislature.gov and click on the SENATE tab or HOUSE tab for a complete list. Let’s make our collective voice heard and support our churches.

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