Property, District: Rights to property

D. Rights

4870. A district, whether incorporated or unincorporated, that has been placed under discipline in accord with the procedures set forth in the General Board Policy on Church Discipline (Gen. Bd. Policy on Ch. Disc. 5355–5370), and each local church within that district shall be suspended from the right to acquire, purchase, sell, mortgage, transfer, or otherwise dispose of any real property without the approval of the General Superintendent or general official appointed to have charge of the district (Gen. Bd. Policy on Ch. Disc. 5365). Whenever a district is reorganized as set forth in the General Board Policy on Church Discipline 5375, the members and ministers affirming loyalty to The Wesleyan Church shall be and constitute the district and shall have the right to control and manage all district property as set forth in The Discipline.

4880. No district conference may vote to withdraw as a body from The Wesleyan Church or in any way sever its relation thereto, and no district board and/or committee and/or board of trustees can divert property from The Wesleyan Church (4540–4550). Provided, however, that no sale, exchange, mortgage, deed in trust, pledge, lease, conveyance, or other alienation of property, in whole or in part, whether such property is real, personal, or mixed, as may be necessary or convenient for the purposes of the district, and when undertaken in accordance with the provisions and requirements of The Discipline, shall constitute a “diversion” of such property from The Wesleyan Church. If a district conference violates or in any way attempts to circumvent these provisions, then all right, title, and interest in and to all district real property shall thereupon immediately vest in The Wesleyan Church Corporation (4200–4270). The General Conference or, in the interim, the General Board shall have the authority to deny the use of any such property to the offending party or parties and to order the immediate eviction of any such party or parties who do not comply therewith from such property.