St. Mark Baptist Church of Pittsburg v. St. Mark at Bethel Missionary Baptist Church CA1/1

BACKGROUND

More than 50 years ago, St. Mark Pittsburg acquired property at 908 Carpino Avenue. In the 1980’s, some church members left and founded New Bethel Missionary

1 Baptist Church of Pittsburg (New Bethel). New Bethel acquired its own property at 360 Central Avenue. Around 2010, the two churches discussed merging and once again becoming a single church. St. Mark Pittsburg was represented in these discussions by, among others, Lawrence Thomas, LaShon Craig, Julius Jones, and Bertha Gosha. New Bethel was represented by, among others, Frances Greene and Kimberly Payton. A June 14, 2010, agreement states the two churches “agree to merge and become a new separate church organization” and specifies the details of the merger would be “developed and agreed on jointly at a later date.” Undescribed “personal funds” loaned to New Bethel were to be repaid, and Pastor McNab, from St. Mark Pittsburg, would be pastor of the new church. Representatives of St. Mark Pittsburg, including Thomas, Jones, and Gosha, and of New Bethel, including Greene and Payton, signed the agreement, as did McNab. The new church operated from the Central Avenue location and did not use the Carpino Avenue…