Branch Davidians - Land Dispute and Status of The Church Today

Land Dispute and Status of The Church Today

Due to the secrecy under which Koresh operated, and because some of his original followers were using their former membership on the church's Executive Council to portray themselves as still a part of the Branch, those who never left the church under Lois Roden's leadership were not able to easily challenge Koresh's group until after their deeds and teachings were known publicly after the 1993 incident. The revelation of those things gave others the opportunity to dispute their hold on the Mount Carmel property and the church's identity. Within months Amo Bishop moved onto the land to begin a one-woman occupation.

After Koresh's death, most of his survivors and supporters recognized Clive Doyle as the spokesman of their organization. But, according to the church's Constitution and By-Laws, the Trustees of the church's property must be appointed to said positions by the president thereof, and Koresh had made no such appointments, nor did they even have a president since he died in 1993, and they announce publicly that they weren't expecting another one to come after him. This situation has existed until today. Therefore, in 1996, they filed a document in the County Records Office stating that they were reorganizing themselves outside of the parameters of the church's laws, and named 11 individuals as co-Trustees.

After the 1993 incident, some of Koresh's survivors filed a lawsuit in order to obtain their personal property that had been confiscated after the end of the standoff. In that suit they, almost incidentally, attempted to gain title to the church's property, Mt. Carmel Center. In 1996 the court ruled that the land belongs to the Branch Davidian Seventh Day Adventist Church, but refused to rule on who exactly constitutes "the church."

Therefore, in 1996, a number of Koresh's remaining followers filed an action to quiet title to the church's property under a claim of adverse possession. Adverse possession requires that the claimant file it against a party that holds title to the property. They filed that suit claiming to be the "Trustees" of the church, while contradictorily claiming that they possessed the property in adversity to the trustees of the church. The only defendants they named in the suit were George Roden, who was confined in a mental institution, and Amo Bishop. They also tried to conceal the fact that they were making a claim for the property by attempting to meet the public notification requirements by publishing their claim in the Waco Farm and Labor Journal that had only 1200 subscribers, and no general circulation at all.

Charles Pace and one of his followers joined the suit, alleging that they had rights to the property along with Koresh's followers because they had contributed to the church's "2nd tithe fund," which had been used to acquire and maintain the property. He was petitioning the court to have it recognize all of the different factions and set up a board with representatives of the various groups to work together to determine how the property would be used.

In 1998, Doug Mitchell, joined the case in opposition to all of the parties. He says that he told Pace that since he was not a follower of Koresh's, that he would not file against him if he would withdraw from the case. Pace then withdrew from the case, but then signed a document in which he stated that he was fully recognizing Koresh's follower's claim to the property, and joined with them in their opposition to Mitchell. Mitchell contends that when Koresh left Mount Carmel in 1984 and adopted the new name "Davidian Branch Davidian Seventh Day Adventist" for his group, they formally left the church, forfeiting their claim as true Branch Davidians. And even more so, considering that during the property trial Koresh's surviving followers formally reorganized themselves outside of, and with specific disregard for the church's governing laws. He says the same is true of Pace when he formed his own group under its new name(s) and began to teach doctrines that are in direct opposition to the fundamental Branch teachings. Teresa Moore chose not to be a party to the suit, but during the proceedings she linked up with Amo Bishop in opposition to Mitchell.

During the pre-trial proceedings, Mitchell's attempts to obtain an injunction against Koresh's remaining followers that would have prohibited them from using the church's name and property was dismissed for "lack of jurisdiction." Judge Alan Mayfield felt that the matter involved church issues which the court could not rightly consider. Mitchell asserts that none of the Judge's conclusions of law in his order were applicable to the case before him. He says that he was unable to appeal the judge's ruling at that time due to personal hardships and to harassment and violence he was subjected to by some of Koresh's followers and from Pace.

Koresh's survivors dropped their claim for adverse possession the day before the trial began, proceeding only on their claims of being the Trustees of the Church. Mitchell's claim to be the rightful Trustee of the church's property was not allowed to be heard by the jury when Koresh's followers' and Amo Roden's claims were considered, but he was allowed to defend himself against the others' claims. Even though Koresh's followers presented the numerous documents that they and Howell had filed in the County Records office in 1987 and later, in 2000 a jury ruled against them and Amo Roden. However, they continued to use the property, along with Charles Pace.

Approximately fifty to seventy people attended the yearly memorial service on April 19, 2005. At that time, survivor Clive Doyle was living at the Mount Carmel Center with supporter Ron Goins, operating a small visitor museum as well as holding weekly Bible studies on the Sabbath. Charles Pace and his family also lived on the property and held worship services.

However, relations began to break down. In August, Pace held a baptism for his members at Mount Carmel, joined by Goins. This left Doyle as the only Koresh follower on the property, and he says he came under increasing pressure to convert or leave. In February, 2006, he decided to move into town, emptying the visitor museum as well.

This has left Pace's group in questionable control of Mount Carmel Center. Pace had opposed the planting of the grove of memorial trees calling it paganism, and his group has chopped down David Koresh's tree and smashed his plaque, to prevent it from being used for idolatry. They have also removed the plaques from the other trees, with plans to incorporate the stones into their own memorial to the dead. Pace, a naturopathic doctor, also plans to make a wellness center out of Doyle's repossessed house and a health food/herb shop out of the visitors' center. Meanwhile, Koresh's survivors nurse hopes of reclaiming the property.

In 2003, Mitchell set up a web site on which he posted most all of the publications of Victor T. Houteff, Ben and Lois Roden, and his own new studies, including a detailed presentation of what he calls The Warfare of Vernon Howell (a.k.a. David Koresh) and others against the Branch Davidian Seventh Day Adventists, in which he gives a detailed and documented overview of the controversy regarding the church and its adversaries. Mitchell says that numerous people who have examined his teachings and those of Koresh's and his followers, Charles Pace, and Teresa Moore, and have found their teachings to be divergent from the fundamental doctrines of the church, and have sided with him. He says that the matter is far from resolved, and that certain facts may soon come to light which will clear up the matter.