Congregation to court: Help us get our stolen church back

A congregation that used to meet in a North Myrtle Beach bar says its former leaders literally stole the church — 250 hymnals, congregation chairs, tables, sound systems, offering plates and more.

Now, members of the OD Church of the Lost and Found are asking for the court to help retrieve their religious materials.

The OD Church of the Lost and Found was founded in 2001 and met at the OD Pavilion — a popular North Myrtle Beach establishment off Main Street.

Weeks ago the church had to move its services to The Convention Center at Barefoot Landing because of the ongoing dispute between members that ultimately landed the congregation in court.

The suit names Jack Brandmahl, Pete Hodges, Oscar Carter, Wilbur McLamb, Peggy V. Anderson as plaintiffs and acting advisers of the OD Church of the Lost and Found.

Carlyle Berry, Donald Long, Don Stuart, Greg Gantt and Tony Taylor are listed as defendants. They, along with — McLamb and Brandmahl — served on an advisory board, called deacons, for the church.

One of the defendants called the lawsuit “frivolous” and said they “absolutely” did not wrongly take church items.

The dispute started in 2016 after founding pastor J.P. “Beaver” Greenway died.

Pastor Mike Lawing, who officiated Greenway’s funeral, was named the new minister. He appointed several members to serve as deacons to help him because he was new to the area, according to court records.

Deacons in the church did not exist until Lawing became the pastor.

Milt Vilas was a board member, but resigned during the summer. Despite his resignation, he tried to access a Wells Fargo bank account to view offerings paid to the church, according to court records.

In early August, Anderson tried to use a debit card to buy church supplies. That card was affiliated with a Wells Fargo bank account that should have had about $5,000, they said. But, Anderson learned that Berry and Vilas closed the account, according to court papers.

Vilas died while setting up for a church service in August and was not named as a defendant in the suit.

In mid-August, Lawing told the Deacons he did not see a need in having them and planned to discontinue the board.

During that meeting, the deacon board presented Lawing with the church’s bylaws, which he rejected. The bylaws would have transferred church decision-making from the entire congregation to the deacons.

Days later on Aug. 16, the deacon board voted to fire Lawing. The lone dissenting vote was from McLamb.

The next day, Anderson went to the church office and couldn’t get inside because Berry, Taylor and Villas jammed the door with toothpicks, court records state.

The filing says while members were locked out the defendants took various items that belonged to the church:

• A 20 foot church box truck
• 250 hymnals
• Two aluminum speaker stands
• Bible commentaries
• AT&T phone system
• 350 folding chairs
• Eight chair racks
• Two 8-foot tables and tablecloths
• A sound system
• Microphones
• Two microphone stands
• Four PA speakers
• Eight speaker stands
• A platform
• A podium
• DVD player
• Audio recording equipment
• Two turbo fans
• Eight offering plates

On Aug. 19, the church voted 173-3 to reinstate Lawing as pastor and voted 176-0 to dismiss the entire deacon board, according to court records. Anderson was unanimously approved as church security.

It was at that meeting that Harold Worley, who owned the bar, told the congregation they could no longer use the OD Pavilion for church services, court filings contend.

That is when the church moved to the Barefoot Landing conference center for its services.

The defendants in the case also started holding competing services using the OD Church of the Lost and Found name, according to court records. But, a majority of church members still attend services with the plaintiffs that Lawing officiates, according to court records.

The suit says the defendants — many of the former deacons — have no authority regarding the operation of the church or control of its property.

OD Church of the Lost and Found members voted unanimously in favor of filing the lawsuit.

The church asked a judge to order the old deacons to return the church’s property and stop interfering with operations of the church. They also asked for an order to prevent the former deacons from using the church’s name for their religious services.

Several defendants could not be reached for comment in time for this report.

Berry said the lawsuit is in reference to a dismissed pastor who refused to leave. The situation became so contentious they had to change locks on the church’s office, he added, and people still tried to break in.

He also said they “absolutely did not” wrongly take the religious material.

“It’s a frivolous lawsuit,” Berry said.

This story was originally published November 14, 2018 at 12:10 PM.