Dispute over Glide Church Heads to Court

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Dispute over the fate of the iconic Glide Memorial Church in downtown San Francisco is headed for court after months of exchanges between the church's leadership and United Methodist Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño.

On Dec. 11, the bishop's office issued the following statement:

"Today, the California-Nevada Annual Conference (CNAC) of The United Methodist Church (UMC), along with its Presiding Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño, filed a lawsuit against the Glide Foundation (also known as Glide Memorial United Methodist Church) in the Superior Court for the County of San Francisco.

"The suit seeks a Court order preserving the UMC’s control over trust property in accordance with the original intent of Lizzie Glide, a devout Methodist who established a trust in 1929 for the express purpose of building a Methodist church for Christian witness and service in San Francisco in honor of her late husband. Earlier this year, the Glide Foundation violated the explicit terms of Lizzie Glide’s trust by attempting to sever ties with the UMC and wrongfully assert control over the trust property.

"The Complaint also asks the Court to enforce the UMC’s long-standing rule that all property of each local United Methodist church is held in trust exclusively for the benefit of the UMC.

"As the matter is now before the Court, Bishop Carcaño and the CNAC do not intend to speak further about the matter at this time."

The dispute broke open in Spring 2018 when Glide's then-senior pastor, the Rev. Jay Williams, resigned his appointment, alleging that the church's leadership refused to allow him to set direction for the church's ministries.

“While I love Glide, I do not love its organizational structure,” he said on April 15. “Dynamics in the current configuration prohibited me from leading fully as a trained Christian theologian called to ordained ministry as an elder in the United Methodist church.”

Rancor grew when Glide moved into open rebellion against Bishop Carcaño's effort to appoint a new senior pastor. The bishop then refused to re-appoint two United Methodist clergy as associate pastors.

According to a United Methodist News Service report, the conference's lawsuit contends that in June, the Glide Foundation tried to remove references to the United Methodist Church from is bylaws and articles. Then in July the foundation met again without notifying the conference and formed a new corporation called Glide Community Church.

United Methodist Insight contacted Glide Church for comment on the lawsuit, but no response had been received by deadline on Dec. 12. In October, the church posted the following statement, "A Message from Glide Leadership," on its website.

"We want to provide an update on the situation with current leadership of the United Methodist Church, and the measures we have taken to protect GLIDE and our community. Regional Bishop Minerva Carcaño has continued her efforts to assert authority over GLIDE’s church, including by making false claims about GLIDE’s founders. We have taken strong actions to resist these efforts to turn GLIDE’s church into a more traditional United Methodist Church, a change that would compromise GLIDE’s values of radical inclusion and unconditional love, and its growing services for the most marginalized.

"Despite our differences of opinion, we believe in the power of mutual respect and engaged dialogue. We have repeatedly asked Bishop Carcaño to talk with us, so that we can find mutually beneficial solutions. To date, however, she has declined our invitations to talk.

"Meanwhile, we have spared no effort in protecting the GLIDE we all love, including our legacy, our assets, and the community we serve. We have strengthened our governance structure and made sure that GLIDE’s assets are protected. We have supported the establishment of two new entities to ensure continuity of care and operations for our community. The first is a nonprofit that will track funding to important social service programs and further strengthen our protection of donor intent—so that those who seek to invest in GLIDE’s social service programs can be even more confident that every dollar will benefit those programs. The second is a nonprofit alternative structure for our church, called Glide Community Church, which we currently do not plan to use, but which is available if it ever becomes necessary to ensure continuity of GLIDE’s iconic Sunday Celebrations, which continue to thrive.

"We hope Bishop Carcaño will rejoin us in dialogue, and we are prepared should she pursue a different path."

The statement was signed by Karen Hanrahan, President & CEO of the Glide Foundation, the church's leadership board, and its officers and directors. The Rev. Cecil Williams and his wife, Janice Miriktani, are listed as co-founders of the foundation. The website currently emphasizes preserving the legacy of Dr. Williams, who was first appointed to Glide UMC 50 years ago. He is now retired but remains active in the organization, allegedly controlling the organization behind the scenes.

A description in the "About" section of the Glide website downplays its identity as a United Methodist congregation founded in 1929 through a bequest from Lizzie Glide in memory of her husband. Glide describes itself as "a social justice movement, social service provider and spiritual community dedicated to strengthening communities and transforming lives."

Cynthia B. Astle serves as editor of United Methodist Insight, which she founded in 2011.