Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 17, 1990 TAG: 9004170616
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SURRY LENGTH: Medium
About 100 parishioners came out Monday for the auction, and what had been expected to be a glum occasion instead turned into a cause for celebration.
Empowered by the 400 members of Mount Nebo Baptist Church "to do whatever it takes," pastor Daniel Baltimore bid $251,000 for 122 acres and the house being auctioned by First Virginia Bank-Commonwealth in Surry.
Although the church is unsure what it will do with the land, the Butlers will now stay in their home. "We just wanted to make sure they had a roof over their heads tonight," Baltimore said.
When a lawyer officially closed the auction, Lucy Butler, 58, threw up her arms, began jumping up and down and screamed, "Thank you Jesus, thank you Lord, thank you Jesus," before collapsing into the arms of friends. "I just couldn't control myself," she said later. "My husband is not a thief. He has always been willing to give what he had to help others, whether it was a can of gas or an expensive piece of machinery. People would come to him for help in the middle of the night. God is so good."
Willie Butler, 62, took the news calmly, shaking the hands of friends and relatives. "Thank you, thank you," he said, over and over. "I think it's wonderful."
The stage for the farm foreclosure was set last month when a bankruptcy court judge dismissed as invalid Willie Butler's third Chapter 12 bankruptcy declaration in four years, leaving creditors to take the 262-acre farm to cover debts that Willie Butler says stem from the 1985 drought.
The decision by the church's board to purchase and return the farmhouse to the Butlers was repayment of an old debt to the Butler family, said Baltimore. In 1970 when the Mount Nebo congregation was attempting to get the financing to back construction of the brick church that sits along Virginia 10 midway between Surry and Bacons Castle, it was Butler's father, a former deacon in the church, who put up "everything he had" as collateral.
"He put up his assets," said Baltimore. "He set the example. He showed the congregation what real faith was."
The church had been trying to buy the Butler farm outright but because more than one financing institution controlled the acreage, the deal became too complex, said Baltimore. The remaining acreage is controlled by the Farmers Home Administration and other institutions.
Baltimore said the church has not decided about the possibility of leasing the farmland back to Butler. "I'd like to see him catch his breath," said Baltimore of Butler.
The church was to pay 10 percent of the purchase price for the property Monday. The entire amount must be paid within 30 days. "The main thing is, we're a church and we love each other," said Baltimore. "We're just exercising our faith."
by CNB