A dispute over who owns a decades-old Oklahoma City church campus is headed to the state’s highest court. The Oklahoma District Church of the Nazarene Inc. is asking the Oklahoma Supreme Court to overturn a district judge’s ruling that let OKC First Church keep title to its property after the congregation broke away from the denomination.
The fight traces back to April 27, 2025, when roughly 98% of OKC First Church’s congregation voted to “spiritually disaffiliate” from the Church of the Nazarene, according to the Oklahoma Gazette. The paper reports the split stemmed from ongoing friction with the denomination over its stance against LGBTQ+ inclusion. The congregation, formerly known as OKC First Church of the Nazarene, cut ties with the denomination and kept operating out of its longtime campus.
Roughly three weeks after the vote, on May 20, 2025, the Oklahoma District Church of the Nazarene Inc. filed suit in Oklahoma County District Court, seeking to seize the building and real estate under the denomination’s manual rules, per the same Gazette report. The district argued that OKC First Church was obligated to give up its property once it disaffiliated.
Judge Sided With the Local Congregation
That argument didn’t hold up at trial. On June 18, Oklahoma County District Judge Sheila Stinson granted summary judgment in favor of OKC First Church, ruling from the bench that the local congregation retains title to its campus following the disaffiliation vote, according to Nelson Madden Black LLP, the New York-based firm that represented the church…