Rift grows between S.F.’s Glide, parent
A months-long feud between San Francisco’s Glide Foundation and its parent organization, the United Methodist Church, has escalated into a lawsuit that could threaten the financial stability of the famed nonprofit.
Founded in 1929, Glide has become a fixture in San Francisco, receiving millions of dollars in city funds to perform charitable work, such as serving free meals daily to the poor and homeless. It is known across the country for its lively Sunday services, which draw a mixture of tourists, celebrities, power brokers and local residents.
The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco Superior Court on Tuesday by the California-
Nevada Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, centers on an 89-year-old agreement that places many of Glide’s assets in a trust for the United Methodist Church, a standard practice between local churches and parent denominations.
In the legal complaint, the United Methodist Church claims that all of the Glide Foundation’s real and personal property are held in trust for the denomination, and that Glide’s attempt to sever ties with the United Methodist Church earlier this year, stripping any mention of the denomination from its founding documents and removing Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño from its board, violated the terms of the trust agreement.
The lawsuit also alleges that Glide has disregarded the wishes of the nonprofit’s founder, Lizzie Glide.
“(I)n its shameful attempt to disaffiliate from the Methodist Church, the Glide Foundation breached its solemn, irrevocable promises to honor Ms. Glide’s wishes and forever be bound by the rules and regulations of the Methodist Church,” the complaint states.
The church’s lawsuit seeks a court order preserving the denomination’s control over buildings and assets that are subject to the trust agreement.
Representatives from the United Methodist Church could not be reached for comment. In a statement, Carcaño said that Glide “violated the explicit terms” of the trust.
Glide representatives could not immediately be reached for comment.
Similar legal disputes between local churches and the United Methodist Church have unfolded across the country, including in Mississippi and West Virginia. St. Luke’s Church in Fresno had to forfeit its property after it split with the church in 2002, but the land and building were later awarded to the congregation after an appeal to a higher court.
The San Francisco lawsuit comes amid a fight that became public in the spring, when former lead pastor Jay Williams left his position, saying in a sermon that he had “not always been empowered to lead fully.” Afterwards, the remaining pastors at Glide were also reassigned.
Some Glide supporters believe the parent denomination has unfairly targeted the Tenderloin church because of its unique brand of worship.
For much of its existence, Glide was headed by the Rev. Cecil Williams, a charismatic pastor who removed religious symbols from the sanctuary and tried to create a space inclusive for people of all faiths and religions. Williams officially retired as senior pastor in 2000, but he has remained a major fixture and the face of the Tenderloin church.
Carcaño said in June that the famous Glide Sunday celebration was no longer a Methodist service, instead populated by people of “other faiths such as Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim and Wiccan. Atheists and agnostics comprise another segment of the Glide community.”
Meanwhile, the United Methodist Church has accused Glide of not following the denomination’s rules and regulations and of not submitting financial information to the Methodist conference for review.
The complex entanglement between Glide and its parent organization, and the recent turmoil, has some supporters worried Glide could ultimately lose control of much of what it has built over the decades.
“At first I thought it was just about theology and philosophy,” Glide Foundation CEO Karen Hanrahan told The Chronicle in June. “But now I’m concerned it’s about more than that.”