NC Court of Appeals finds error in dismissal of Fifth Avenue United Methodist Church suit

The NC Court of Appeals found errors in dismissing several Fifth Avenue United Methodist Church claims against the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church related to breach of contract, fraud, and other legal grounds and has reversed and remanded these for further proceedings.

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - The North Carolina Court of Appeals has published the full court opinion on a case involving Fifth Avenue United Methodist Church of Wilmington.

According to WECT staff, the church took legal action against the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church in 2023 following its decision to close the 19th-century historic church.

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The congregation appealed the decision after a civil court dismissed the case in September 2023.

The court opinion released today states the court committed errors by dismissing Fifth Avenue United Methodist Church’s claims for breach of contract, fraud, quiet title, judicial modification of trust, and constructive fraud.

“We also hold that it was error to dismiss Fifth Avenue’s claims for declaratory judgment and quiet title for failure to state a claim pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6). We therefore reverse the trial court’s order ruling on these claims and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. However, the trial court did not commit error by dismissing Fifth Avenue’s claim for promissory estoppel. Finally, we hold that the trial court committed error by denying Fifth Avenue’s request for preliminary injunctive relief; accordingly, we reverse and remand this part of the trial court’s order,” court documents state.

The North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church said that the closure was due to a membership decline and argued against the lawsuit on religious grounds. The congregation says it’s a property matter.

You can find the full court opinion here.