Janet and Howell Townes at their home in Nashville, Tenn., on March 19, 2025. The couple were longtime members of the Nashville Church of Christ, where Howell served as volunteer treasurer. They left the congregation after a controversial leadership change and the church’s eventual closure.
Howell and Janet Townes look over photographs and records. The couple, once deeply involved in the congregation, left after raising concerns about how the church was being run.
An ugly legal battle in Nashville, the country music capital, centers on allegations of “steeplejacking”—hijacking a dying church for power and profit.
The Nashville Church of Christ, worth $30 million, was taken over by Sean Mathis, a history of failed businesses and questionable claims. He shut down services, installed friends as pastors, and planned a global religious education center, but little has happened. Mathis claims to be studying at Oxford, but his degree appears to be an incomplete online program.
Country music legend Amy Grant is suing Mathis for her family to take control of the church and give the property to a charity. Grant’s grandfather set up the church and demanded it remain active. Mathis calls Grant and her family a gang, while her attorneys call him a thief.
As churches lose members rapidly, this Nashville fight fore-shadows a war over controlling the assets of once-thriving congregations.
The Nashville Church of Christ, worth $30 million, was taken over by Sean Mathis, a history of failed businesses and questionable claims. He shut down services, installed friends as pastors, and planned a global religious education center, but little has happened. Mathis claims to be studying at Oxford, but his degree appears to be an incomplete online program.
Country music legend Amy Grant is suing Mathis for her family to take control of the church and give the property to a charity. Grant’s grandfather set up the church and demanded it remain active. Mathis calls Grant and her family a gang, while her attorneys call him a thief.
As churches lose members rapidly, this Nashville fight fore-shadows a war over controlling the assets of once-thriving congregations.
Editor: Kara Milstein