Methodist Church mulls how to honor Benson's wishes on Benson Building
Building is home to several retail businesses
BY VICI PAPAJOHN Gulf Breeze News vici@gulfbreezenews.com

Lisa Newell/Gulf Breeze News Benson Building on Highway 98 in Gulf Breeze.

The Gulf Breeze United Methodist Church (GBUMC) may sell the Benson Building on Highway 98. The property was inherited from Eloise Benson upon her death, and though her will required that the property be kept intact for 30 years and used for "Christian purposes," the church was relieved of the terms of the will in recent court action.

"The matter of the property was brought before the judge and he ruled that clause unreasonable and declared it null and void. The property is old and in poor condition, so the clause was ruled unenforceable," says Daryl Lapointe, GBUMC Executive Committee Chair.

"I would like to see the Bensons'' heart and their love for this church honored," says Dr. Tim Thompson, Pastor of the church. "This will be a hard decision and we will find a way to honor her and her intent."

Lapointe echoes Thompson. "This has been a decision on many levels. The oversight committee made up of chairs of all the church committees, the Board of Trustees, the lay leaders and the Executive Committee has all met and determined that it is in the best interest of the church to sell," he says. "We own property for our churches, and we are confident they advance the kingdom of God. The sale of this property would provide funds in such a way to honor Eloise and her desire for her financial blessings to be used for Christian education. Whatever we do, we will honor that commitment."

The church called a Charge Conference for Tuesday, April 10, and the congregation will discuss the sale, and then Church Council 2007 members will vote.

"I don't know how the church will vote," Lapointe admits. "We prayed a lot concerning whether or not we should be in the real estate business, and we believe in our hearts that we should not."

Some of the tenants of the Benson building feel that they have an implied right to the property as tenants, and allege that Benson gave them verbal commitments that they would not have to move out.

"We have prayer teams praying for the tenants and we believe God will take care of them," says Lapointe. "We know some of them are suffering and can't pay their rent, and can't afford insurance. We believe a better location will help grow their business.Some of them are uninhabitable, there's inadequate parking. We will continue to help in any way we can."

Tenants received a letter allowing them a six-month extension of their current leases if they got insurance, or a 30-day notice to vacate.

"We need them to have leases and insurance so we can get our own coverage," Lapointe says. "No one can expect the beneficiary of land not to carry adequate liability coverage."

If the church votes to sell the property, the Finance Committee will decide where funds are spent, according to Lapointe.

"We think this is in the best interest of the citizens, the body of the church, tenants and the community," he says.