Mountain of Blessings church walked away the winning bidder at an auction late last year. Photo by Evelyn Rupert.
After months of waiting for its chance to purchase a large church property near Manchester, a congregation from eastern Henrico has decided to give up on the deal.
Mountain of Blessings Church, which last year was the winning bidder in the bankruptcy auction of the 37,000-square-foot Richmond Christian Center property, has withdrawn a lawsuit that sought to force the completion of the sale.
The church then filed a separate suit on May 8 in an effort to get back the $196,000 deposit it put down at auction.
“The relief we’re seeking is just to get our money back and go home,” said Bill Baldwin, an attorney with Thorsen, Honey, Baldwin & Meyer, who is representing Mountain of Blessings. “The client has elected to not go forward with forcing the trustee and Richmond Christian Center to sell.”
The Richmond Christian Center owns several small and lots apart from its main building.
Mountain of Blessings has been waiting since December to close the deal. It made the victorious $2.15 million bid on RCC’s church building at 214 Cowardin Ave. The auction was completed, and the bankruptcy court approved the sale, but the closing of the deal ultimately was left at the discretion of Bruce Matson, the trustee overseeing RCC’s finances as it works through bankruptcy.
Matson has argued in court filings that a sale of the property is not in RCC’s best interest. He has helped the church devise a plan to return to financial stability without selling the land. That plan would include using contributions from members each week, restructuring church debt and renting out some of the church’s unused facilities.
Matson is also fighting to recoup as much as $3 million from pending lawsuits against RCC pastor Stephen A. Parson Sr., his sons, Stephen Jr. and Mark, and others. That case alleges that the pastor and his relatives may have used the church’s assets to acquire cars, real estate and offshore accounts.
Baldwin said Mountain of Blessings’ newest complaint is aimed at obtaining a declaration from the court allowing it to get back its deposit that has been sitting in escrow with Motleys Asset Disposition Group, the firm that handled the auction.
It’s unclear what Mountain of Blessings’ future plans are for a new facility.
Read Mountain of Blessings’ recent suit (PDF)
“They’ll have to come up with plan B,” Baldwin said.
The congregation is currently housed at 4700 Oakleys Lane, between the Shops at White Oak Village and Richmond International Airport in eastern Henrico. The church has operated at that site for about 10 years and bought the 5.5-acre campus in 2005, Henrico County records show.
A message left for Mountain of Blessings spokeswoman Kim Martin was not returned by press time.
Richmond Christian Center was put into Chapter 11 in late 2013 in attempt to avoid foreclosure of its Cowardin Avenue sanctuary and to potentially restructure its finances and remain in its Southside home.
Matson has said that the congregation still has a few hundred active members, and it still actively holds services at the Cowardin facility each week.
Pastor Parson was removed from the church’s board in February, and previous court records indicated he had taken a sabbatical from preaching.
Mountain of Blessings church walked away the winning bidder at an auction late last year. Photo by Evelyn Rupert.
After months of waiting for its chance to purchase a large church property near Manchester, a congregation from eastern Henrico has decided to give up on the deal.
Mountain of Blessings Church, which last year was the winning bidder in the bankruptcy auction of the 37,000-square-foot Richmond Christian Center property, has withdrawn a lawsuit that sought to force the completion of the sale.
The church then filed a separate suit on May 8 in an effort to get back the $196,000 deposit it put down at auction.
“The relief we’re seeking is just to get our money back and go home,” said Bill Baldwin, an attorney with Thorsen, Honey, Baldwin & Meyer, who is representing Mountain of Blessings. “The client has elected to not go forward with forcing the trustee and Richmond Christian Center to sell.”
The Richmond Christian Center owns several small and lots apart from its main building.
Mountain of Blessings has been waiting since December to close the deal. It made the victorious $2.15 million bid on RCC’s church building at 214 Cowardin Ave. The auction was completed, and the bankruptcy court approved the sale, but the closing of the deal ultimately was left at the discretion of Bruce Matson, the trustee overseeing RCC’s finances as it works through bankruptcy.
Matson has argued in court filings that a sale of the property is not in RCC’s best interest. He has helped the church devise a plan to return to financial stability without selling the land. That plan would include using contributions from members each week, restructuring church debt and renting out some of the church’s unused facilities.
Matson is also fighting to recoup as much as $3 million from pending lawsuits against RCC pastor Stephen A. Parson Sr., his sons, Stephen Jr. and Mark, and others. That case alleges that the pastor and his relatives may have used the church’s assets to acquire cars, real estate and offshore accounts.
Baldwin said Mountain of Blessings’ newest complaint is aimed at obtaining a declaration from the court allowing it to get back its deposit that has been sitting in escrow with Motleys Asset Disposition Group, the firm that handled the auction.
It’s unclear what Mountain of Blessings’ future plans are for a new facility.
Read Mountain of Blessings’ recent suit (PDF)
“They’ll have to come up with plan B,” Baldwin said.
The congregation is currently housed at 4700 Oakleys Lane, between the Shops at White Oak Village and Richmond International Airport in eastern Henrico. The church has operated at that site for about 10 years and bought the 5.5-acre campus in 2005, Henrico County records show.
A message left for Mountain of Blessings spokeswoman Kim Martin was not returned by press time.
Richmond Christian Center was put into Chapter 11 in late 2013 in attempt to avoid foreclosure of its Cowardin Avenue sanctuary and to potentially restructure its finances and remain in its Southside home.
Matson has said that the congregation still has a few hundred active members, and it still actively holds services at the Cowardin facility each week.
Pastor Parson was removed from the church’s board in February, and previous court records indicated he had taken a sabbatical from preaching.