Church Burns - Free State Project (Grafton: movers, taxes, deal)

[unit731]

"GRAFTON — The man who died in a fire at the Peaceful Assembly Church was identified Wednesday by state investigators as the pastor of the church, John Connell — hailed by the website freekeene.com as “one of the earliest movers to New Hampshire as part of the Free State Project.” "


LINK

[CrazyDave]

http://www.city-data.com/forum/new-h...th-so-far.html

[feskone]

Do you guys believe it was an accident? Or maybe its like those alternative doctors who disappear and/or commit suicide at an unprecedented rate all over the US? What did the investigation show?

[KCZ]

I haven't seen any report of the Fire Marshal's investigation yet. The fire occurred several days after the town mailed the "pastor" a notice that they were taking the property for non-payment of taxes. There was no wood stove or fireplace in the church. Make your best guess.

[CrazyDave]

Maybe one of the local followers of Anton Lavey? I never would have thought such a thing til today

[mrplow3]

Originally Posted by KCZ

I haven't seen any report of the Fire Marshal's investigation yet. The fire occurred several days after the town mailed the "pastor" a notice that they were taking the property for non-payment of taxes. There was no wood stove or fireplace in the church. Make your best guess.

Wait, what taxes? I thought churches are tax exempt.

[robr2]

Originally Posted by mrplow3

Wait, what taxes? I thought churches are tax exempt.

It wasn't recognized as a church:

the building was owned by a layperson - the self anointed pastor who died in the fire
the "pastor" had no religious training or certification
the church was not affiliated with any major religious organization
the church never filed for 501c3 status because the pastor didn't want to deal with the IRS
the church didn't provide any social services
the church did not hold regular services.

But the town has now granted them tax exempt status provided they repair the church by a year end deadline.

[KCZ]

The congregation that had owned the church for a while had built and moved to a new church, and this guy bought the old church building. It wasn't regarded as a church per se by the town.