NASHVILLE, TENN. — An attorney for the Nashville Church of Christ is questioning the accuracy of certain dates contained in The Christian Chronicle’s prior articles about the former Central Church of Christ’s legal battles.
In an in-depth story last year, the Chronicle reported that “the one-time downtown anchor faces litigation and a future full of uncertainty.” That story followed weeks of reporting spurred by a Wall Street Journal article on the “yearslong legal dispute” between the church and benefactor Andrew Mizell “A.M.” Burton’s heirs, including singer-songwriter Amy Grant.
In later coverage, the Chronicle detailed a settlement agreement reached between Burton’s estate and the Nashville church, requiring the sale of the historic building. A later story noted that the church had settled a second lawsuit and would restore $440,000 to the trust and transfer it to a nearby church.
Mark Thomson, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney who focuses on defamation and First Amendment cases, asserts that the Chronicle “falsely reported that NCC’s congregation ceased meeting in the Church’s historic building in 2018.”
In an emailed letter, Thomson provided an image that he said “shows NCC’s congregation meeting in its historic building in 2019. I trust that suffices to get the Chronicle to correct the error, but please let me know if more is required.”
The Chronicle could not independently verify the date on the electronic image.
During the Chronicle’s reporting last year, a different attorney representing the church declined to respond to specific questions, instead referring the newspaper to public documents.
The detail challenged by Thomson came from the “Memorandum in Support of Nashville Church of Christ, Inc.’s Motion for Summary Judgement,” filed in the Davidson County Chancery Court on Nov. 5, 2021.
On page 6 of the Memorandum under the third section, “Additional Facts,” the church itself states, “In December 2018, it became necessary for NCC’s congregation to temporarily meet at locations other than the church building for worship services while renovations were and are ongoing.”
That sentence suggests that renovation, which started in 2018 and was still under way in 2021, when NCC filed the court document, caused the congregation to meet somewhere other than at its historic building.
Thomson also asserts that the Chronicle “falsely reported that Dr. Shawn Mathis and his wife joined Central Church of Christ in 2017. Dr. Mathis and his wife joined CCC in 2016. Dr. Mathis can personally attest to that, as can Spencer Davidson, NCC’s Preaching Minister.”
The date cited in the Chronicle’s story was attributed to Howell Townes, who grew up in the Central church and served as its treasurer for 30 years. The story noted that Townes “recalled that Mathis and his wife began attending sometime in 2017.”
In this photo taken in 2025, a plaque marks the meeting place of the Central Church of Christ, later owned by the Nashville Church of Christ.
Thomson also claims: “The Chronicle falsely reported that CCC was a nonprofit before Dr. Mathis convinced its leaders to incorporate” as a 501(c)(3) organization.
The Chronicle quoted former member Ken Tucker as saying, “He was insistent, right from the beginning to … make it a nonprofit organization, although it was already a nonprofit organization.”
According to the IRS, churches “are automatically considered tax exempt and are not required to apply for and obtain recognition of exempt status from the IRS.”
Thomson also takes issue with the Chronicle’s note that the legal battles “stemmed from the January 2018 incorporation of the Central church as the Nashville Church of Christ, shortly after Shawn Mathis became the church’s third elder.”
“That’s not true,” Thomson said. “None of NCC’s ‘legal battles’ was caused by, or even related to, the decision to incorporate. Nor is it a matter of opinion to say so. It’s just a false factual assertion, which the Chronicle should correct as a matter of basic truthfulness.”
Bobby Ross Jr., the Chronicle’s editor-in-chief, said the newspaper worked hard to report the story in a journalistically responsible manner, despite the church’s unwillingness to answer questions at the time the articles were written.
“The facts were presented as fairly and accurately as possible given the information that we had available to us,” Ross said.
To respond to this story, email letters@christianchronicle.org.
