The estate of A.M. Burton has reached a settlement agreement with the Nashville Church of Christ after years of dispute over the downtown Nashville, Tenn., church building formerly known as the Central Church of Christ.
According to the settlement, approved by a Davidson County judge Wednesday, the court ruled the Nashville church violated a clause in the property’s deed that reserved it for “the use and benefit of the Church of Christ.” Therefore, ownership of the property reverts to the estate of the congregation’s founding member, A.M. Burton.
However, the agreement will have a probate court oversee the property’s sale at fair market value. Tax documents assess its worth at $11 million.
Proceeds will be split, with 80 percent going to the Burton estate — managed by two descendants of A.M. Burton, singer-songwriter Amy Grant and Andy Burton. Grant has spoken about Burton, her great-grandfather, and the church in a past entrevista.
The remaining 20 percent will fall to the Nashville Church of Christ. The church website lists Shawn Mathis and his father, Larry Mathis, as its elders.
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The adjoining parking lots are not included in the settlement and will remain the property of the Nashville church.
Como La crónica cristiana previously reported, the Central church became embroiled in controversy after Shawn Mathis became its third elder in 2017.
In the following years, Mathis led the church to incorporate as a nonprofit, rename itself as the Nashville Church of Christ and move to private, online-only worship services.
Meanwhile, longtime church members left, unpaid taxes piled up, and the building languished, trash collecting around its locked front entrance.
The church sued the Burtons in 2020 after family members began investigating and voicing concerns about the church’s state. Church leaders sought a judgment that the clause was either unenforceable or had not been violated by the church’s lack of in-person meetings.
The Davidson County Chancery Court ruled in 2022 that the restriction was enforceable, but after the estate countersued that the church had violated the deed, that second question remained in dispute.
The state itself found that “the property is not used in furtherance of exempt purposes” and began assessing property taxes in 2020. Those went unpaid, today totaling $558,000 plus accrued interest, according to Davidson County tax records.
As part of the settlement, the payment of those taxes will be split by the Nashville church and Burton estate. However, the estate’s portion is capped at $50,000.
As administrators of the estate with a fiduciary duty to its heirs, Grant and Andy Burton chose to settle to avoid the additional cost, delays and uncertainty of awaiting a jury trial, they said in a statement.
“We care deeply about protecting A.M. Burton’s legacy,” Grant said in a statement. “We were passionate and determined to stand up for our family and help right this wrong.”
The family hopes to find a charitable buyer who will continue the property’s use in service to the Nashville community. However, the probate court will ultimately select the buyer, and there is no condition requiring its use as a church once sold.
In honor of what would have been the Central church’s 100th anniversary on Oct. 4, Grant and Andy Burton have launched the A.M. Burton Matthew 25 Fund, with a mission “to preserve, impart and build upon the guiding values of A.M. Burton, to elevate his legacy of selfless generosity and faith in action, and to furnish charitable services that uplift individuals and strengthen our community.”
The charity’s name references Jesus’ call to do good to the “least of these”: “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
Grant and Burton will invite their fellow heirs to contribute their portion of the building sale proceeds to the fund.
“This year, Central Church of Christ should be celebrating a 100-year anniversary of serving the community,” Andy Burton said. “Instead, it stands as a shuttered eyesore in the very heart of our city.
“Our hearts remain broken for the members who abruptly lost their beloved church home in 2018. … But we hope this significant milestone will shift the focus toward healing and moving forward.”
Meanwhile, the Nashville church maintains that it committed no wrongdoing, Jeremey Goolsby, attorney for the church, told the Crónica Por correo electrónico.
He cited the Great Commission, to “go and make disciples of all nations,” as the guiding force in the church’s efforts to “serve not only the local community but also all souls across the globe.”
“With that broadened, global perspective,” he said, “the Church has made the strategic decision to settle the very narrow litigation related to certain deed restrictions attached to a single parcel of property owned by the Church. … The Church looks forward to investing its portion of the proceeds from the sale of the building to support its global mission efforts.”
Este artículo apareció originalmente en La crónica cristiana y ha sido reimpreso con permiso.
Calvin Cockrell is managing editor for The Christian Chronicle. He also serves as the young adults minister for the Iglesia de Cristo del norte de Tuscaloosa en alabama
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6 Responses
What a beautiful story. I grew up in the Church of Christ in Southern California. It will be a happy day when the Church of Christ that A.M. Burton established and nurtured is once again fulfilling the eternal work of feeding the sheep. Only the good Lord Himself knows the countless people rescued in body, soul and spirit. Won’t Heaven be grand when the stories are shared.
I don’t respect Amy Grant and the things she did to get Vince Gill. She also likes to wear low blouses to show the world her scar from her heart surgery, like in this video and photo. Amy, we don’t want to see it. I am sorry you had to have heart surgery. Amy, I know you stole Vince from his wife, Janice of Sweethearts of the Rodeo. I supposed if he wasn’t so weak he wouldn’t have given in. You made him sing, “I Still Believe in You” to you, which was originally written for, and performed with, his wife Janice. That song was my husband and my 25th Anniversary song. We can’t stand to hear it anymore. It was for Janice. Makes me so sad what you did.
Wow, you’re giving Amy a whole lot of power. STOLE Vince? MADE him sing?
Does he have no mind or will of his own? Was she holding him at gunpoint?
Vince is responsible for his own sins, not Amy.
Yes she stole another woman’s husband, just like Joni Lamb stole her friend’s husband. Wretched.
Spouses cannot be stolen. That removes accountability from the straying spouse.
Vince is responsible for his own sins. He is to be accountable for his own choices, including who he marries and what he sings. Amy did not force him to leave at gunpoint, nor did she hit him over the head with a club and drag him away. Vince made choices. Sounds like you should aim your vitriol at him, no?
Women have got to stop this “blame and attack the other woman, while the man sits in the middle blameless” nonsense.
And it sounds like everyone has moved on, so shouldn’t we?
I’m so grateful to serve a God who forgives and takes away my sins “farther than the distance from east to west” (Psalms 103:12) Because humans will NEVER let one another forget our wrongs, even YEARS later.
I’ve never been much of a music fan—Amy Grant included—but I find it telling how quickly the blame for her first marriage’s breakup is placed squarely on her shoulders. You stop just short of calling her a “Jezebel,” but the implication is hard to miss. It’s worth asking why the narrative so often singles out women for responsibility in these situations, while the complexities of both partners’ experiences are overlooked.