For 52 years, Rev. W.O. Wells led one of the most storied African-American congregations on the Space Coast. He fought against racism while nurturing souls from the pulpit of a sanctuary he helped to rebuild, brick by brick.
But after his retirement in 2011, the 81-year-old pastor emeritus and his family are embroiled in a struggle with the leadership of Greater St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church in Cocoa. Emotions are high, so much so that Cocoa police were called to the church during Sunday services, and a faction of members have left in a congregational split.
The fight has taken another turn, as the church’s board of trustees changed the locks on a two-story parsonage once promised to Wells as a place to live until his death. Now, he’s on notice to move out.
“I don’t know why ... I feel like I’m still a part of the church, but I’m not worried. It’s in God’s hands,” said the pastor, tearfully describing the conflict in an interview with FLORIDA TODAY.
Wells believes the church trustees are using a private family matter to wrest from him the home he shared for five decades with his wife, Annie Ruth Wells, and their four children.
His wife died in 2008. He remarried in 2011. “I’ve entered into another journey in my life and I know God will deliver me. God is not done with me yet,” Wells said.
Pastor David Bryant, named successor to Wells in 2011, said the board made the decision after concluding Wells violated the intent and spirit of a written agreement about living in the parsonage. Church leaders say Wells let relatives, including his terminally ill sister, live there. After her death in December, the family says trouble arose when one of Wells’ nephews refused to leave the parsonage.
Bryant said he has been trying to meet with Wells face to face, but he’s been rebuffed. He also said the church was not evicting the pastor, but did change the locks.
“It’s really a shame that the (Wells) family is doing this. They have refused to meet with church leaders,” Bryant said. “The church owns the house, but we are not kicking (Wells) out.”
At issue are the terms of a contract signed by Wells allowing the church to withdraw $350 from his $2,084 monthly pension to cover expenses at the parsonage, according to copies provided by Wells.
The Miami-born minister, a devotee of Martin Luther King Jr.‘s philosophy of non-violence and one of the last surviving members of a generation of black leaders on the Space Coast who marched during the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s, retired in 2011. Wells also once headed the Brevard Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. In 1976, he oversaw the rebuilding of the termite-infested church into a sanctuary twice the original size. Recipient of numerous community awards, Wells’ tenure ended with a series of celebrations.
But relations later soured.
The widower wanted his son, Assist. Pastor Oliver Wells, a Grammy-award winning gospel musician, to expand his legacy of ministry. Congregational leaders had a different track in mind, selecting Rev. David Bryant Sr., a Gulf War veteran, to lead the 125-year-old church.
“This is a longstanding situation ... everything stems from the fact that the church decided to go in a different direction. He basically wanted his son to succeed him,” Bryant said. As for the retirement package, which also covers half of Wells’ health care insurance, “the church has rendered the most generous retirement package I’ve seen from any church.”
Internal tension boiled over on Nov. 17, 2011, when someone during a Sunday service yelled at the retired pastor in the audience, witnesses recall. Someone called police. Minutes later, officers arrived to investigate. Rev. W.O. Wells, however, continued to live at the parsonage, passing time watching courtroom dramas and other shows on TV. But he started attending Christ the King Church in Melbourne, which was founded by his son.
In 2011, Wells remarried, spending more time away from the parsonage with his new wife. As he relished a new social life, he learned his sister Margaret lost her home in Connecticut. Wells, one of seven children, allowed his last surviving sibling and her two adult sons to move in to the parsonage. Although he no longer lived there, he left his belongings there and returned every day to check his mail.
Bryant said the living arrangements were not a problem. “The church didn’t have a problem with (the sister) staying there. They were staying there rent free,” Bryant said. “(Wells) got married and took up residence elsewhere, which means that he abandoned the property. After his sister died, the house was considered vacant.”
The trustees grew concerned in December after learning Wells asked his nephews to move out. One nephew decided to stay and took the issue to the church. The church then changed the locks.
But, Wells said, “Nobody called me.”
The church hired a lawyer. A certified letter arrived in December informing Wells that because he “vacated the property some time in 2011,” the agreement allowing him to live there ended. The letter from attorney Timothy Pickles read, “Therefore, the purpose of this correspondence is to put you on notice that the church will not permit you to re-obtain possession of the property.”
“The Church appreciates your many years of service, but believes, at this time, it is best for both parties to move on,” Pickles wrote.
Another letter in January, from the trustees, warned Wells that his efforts to remove his nephew from the house could have opened the church to legal liability. The letter added that the church would review the parsonage agreement as a result. Bryant said he hoped the issue could be resolved without going to court. He also said that Wells and his family will always be part of Greater St. Paul fellowship.
“We will grow from this. I believe everything is a teachable moment,” Bryant said. “It just hurts our heart that it has gotten this way.”
The battle to displace Wells, now blind in one eye and facing increasing health concerns, has left some older members of the congregation uneasy.
“I wish they could work it out,” said 77-year-old Norma Poitier. “Pastor Wells has been a wonderful pastor and others feel the same way.”
Family members say they are worried the dispute with the church could end up tarnishing Wells’ civil rights and community service legacy.
“The church never had any say so in our private lives. What the church is doing is trying to eliminate his legacy after a life of service,” Annette Wells-White said, adding that the issue has put a strain on her father. There was even an anonymous note tossed into her front yard that read, “It is more to come. It ain’t over. The Devil is watching,” Wells-White recounted.
“The people involved will have to make an account to God for this. (The church trustees) never once called him, never gave him a mumbling word,” said Wells-White, who handles her father’s day to day affairs.
Wells, who peppers his conversation with scripture, said that while he is surprised with the church’s actions, he has faith it will work out. He says he still loves Greater St. Paul.
“All things work together for good. That’s the thing. I still have my life ... maybe this will be a lesson that can help some other pastor,” Wells said.
But after his retirement in 2011, the 81-year-old pastor emeritus and his family are embroiled in a struggle with the leadership of Greater St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church in Cocoa. Emotions are high, so much so that Cocoa police were called to the church during Sunday services, and a faction of members have left in a congregational split.
The fight has taken another turn, as the church’s board of trustees changed the locks on a two-story parsonage once promised to Wells as a place to live until his death. Now, he’s on notice to move out.
“I don’t know why ... I feel like I’m still a part of the church, but I’m not worried. It’s in God’s hands,” said the pastor, tearfully describing the conflict in an interview with FLORIDA TODAY.
Wells believes the church trustees are using a private family matter to wrest from him the home he shared for five decades with his wife, Annie Ruth Wells, and their four children.
His wife died in 2008. He remarried in 2011. “I’ve entered into another journey in my life and I know God will deliver me. God is not done with me yet,” Wells said.
Pastor David Bryant, named successor to Wells in 2011, said the board made the decision after concluding Wells violated the intent and spirit of a written agreement about living in the parsonage. Church leaders say Wells let relatives, including his terminally ill sister, live there. After her death in December, the family says trouble arose when one of Wells’ nephews refused to leave the parsonage.
Bryant said he has been trying to meet with Wells face to face, but he’s been rebuffed. He also said the church was not evicting the pastor, but did change the locks.
“It’s really a shame that the (Wells) family is doing this. They have refused to meet with church leaders,” Bryant said. “The church owns the house, but we are not kicking (Wells) out.”
At issue are the terms of a contract signed by Wells allowing the church to withdraw $350 from his $2,084 monthly pension to cover expenses at the parsonage, according to copies provided by Wells.
The Miami-born minister, a devotee of Martin Luther King Jr.‘s philosophy of non-violence and one of the last surviving members of a generation of black leaders on the Space Coast who marched during the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s, retired in 2011. Wells also once headed the Brevard Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. In 1976, he oversaw the rebuilding of the termite-infested church into a sanctuary twice the original size. Recipient of numerous community awards, Wells’ tenure ended with a series of celebrations.
But relations later soured.
The widower wanted his son, Assist. Pastor Oliver Wells, a Grammy-award winning gospel musician, to expand his legacy of ministry. Congregational leaders had a different track in mind, selecting Rev. David Bryant Sr., a Gulf War veteran, to lead the 125-year-old church.
“This is a longstanding situation ... everything stems from the fact that the church decided to go in a different direction. He basically wanted his son to succeed him,” Bryant said. As for the retirement package, which also covers half of Wells’ health care insurance, “the church has rendered the most generous retirement package I’ve seen from any church.”
Internal tension boiled over on Nov. 17, 2011, when someone during a Sunday service yelled at the retired pastor in the audience, witnesses recall. Someone called police. Minutes later, officers arrived to investigate. Rev. W.O. Wells, however, continued to live at the parsonage, passing time watching courtroom dramas and other shows on TV. But he started attending Christ the King Church in Melbourne, which was founded by his son.
In 2011, Wells remarried, spending more time away from the parsonage with his new wife. As he relished a new social life, he learned his sister Margaret lost her home in Connecticut. Wells, one of seven children, allowed his last surviving sibling and her two adult sons to move in to the parsonage. Although he no longer lived there, he left his belongings there and returned every day to check his mail.
Bryant said the living arrangements were not a problem. “The church didn’t have a problem with (the sister) staying there. They were staying there rent free,” Bryant said. “(Wells) got married and took up residence elsewhere, which means that he abandoned the property. After his sister died, the house was considered vacant.”
The trustees grew concerned in December after learning Wells asked his nephews to move out. One nephew decided to stay and took the issue to the church. The church then changed the locks.
But, Wells said, “Nobody called me.”
The church hired a lawyer. A certified letter arrived in December informing Wells that because he “vacated the property some time in 2011,” the agreement allowing him to live there ended. The letter from attorney Timothy Pickles read, “Therefore, the purpose of this correspondence is to put you on notice that the church will not permit you to re-obtain possession of the property.”
“The Church appreciates your many years of service, but believes, at this time, it is best for both parties to move on,” Pickles wrote.
Another letter in January, from the trustees, warned Wells that his efforts to remove his nephew from the house could have opened the church to legal liability. The letter added that the church would review the parsonage agreement as a result. Bryant said he hoped the issue could be resolved without going to court. He also said that Wells and his family will always be part of Greater St. Paul fellowship.
“We will grow from this. I believe everything is a teachable moment,” Bryant said. “It just hurts our heart that it has gotten this way.”
The battle to displace Wells, now blind in one eye and facing increasing health concerns, has left some older members of the congregation uneasy.
“I wish they could work it out,” said 77-year-old Norma Poitier. “Pastor Wells has been a wonderful pastor and others feel the same way.”
Family members say they are worried the dispute with the church could end up tarnishing Wells’ civil rights and community service legacy.
“The church never had any say so in our private lives. What the church is doing is trying to eliminate his legacy after a life of service,” Annette Wells-White said, adding that the issue has put a strain on her father. There was even an anonymous note tossed into her front yard that read, “It is more to come. It ain’t over. The Devil is watching,” Wells-White recounted.
“The people involved will have to make an account to God for this. (The church trustees) never once called him, never gave him a mumbling word,” said Wells-White, who handles her father’s day to day affairs.
Wells, who peppers his conversation with scripture, said that while he is surprised with the church’s actions, he has faith it will work out. He says he still loves Greater St. Paul.
“All things work together for good. That’s the thing. I still have my life ... maybe this will be a lesson that can help some other pastor,” Wells said.
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