Marshals Seize Parsonage Of Baptist Temple
IRS Says Church Owes $6 Million
The action came mid-afternoon Tuesday, authorities told 6 News.
So far, federal authorities haven't appeared at The Baptist Temple, where members have conducted marathon services.
The parsonage was home to Dr. Greg, 68, and his wife, Wanda Dixon, 65, for 32 years.
"It's strange times when they can come in and just snatch a home out from under a family. I think it's wicked, very, very wicked. Yesterday the house was a home, today it's just a house," Wanda Dixon said.
U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans on Sept. 28 ordered the surrender of the church, its school and parsonages to satisfy the IRS debt.
Greg Dixon says he has had an easier time focusing on the big picture but for his wife, losing their home was personal.
"If you want me to be honest, I think it was vengeance on Judge Barker's part because she hates my husband," Wanda Dixon said.
At one time, the Dixons owned the home. They gave the home to the church so that they could avoid paying property taxes on the home.
"We were just desperate for every penny we could get our hands on and so that was an extra $2,500 to $3,000 a year going to property tax. We just felt we had to save if we could. So we deeded it back to the church. In essence we got caught. It was trapped along with the church property. We have to accept that as the will of God and go on with our lives," Greg Dixon said.
U.S. Marshal Frank Anderson said Tuesday afternoon that the timing of the seizure was not important, although the marshal service wanted to "do it as quickly as we can."
"We do not want to jeopardize the safety of any of the members involved," Anderson said. "We don't want any type of confrontation. We want to resolve this in a peaceful manner."
Singing "Faith of our Fathers," members of the independent Baptist congregation and supporters worshiped Tuesday inside their church.
More than 400 people, some from other faiths and others from as far away as Texas, conducted a prayer vigil. One woman openly wept from her red, theater-style seat inside the sanctuary.
"They can take our church. They cannot take our convictions," the Rev. Dixon said from the pulpit to shouts of "Amen!" and applause.
The Rev. Wiley Drake, a Southern Baptist minister from Orange County, Calif., led the gathering in prayer, saying he was sure God was not surprised by a series of recent federal court decisions against the Baptist Temple.
"We know you still stand with this church," Drake said, referring to God.
Dixon had emerged earlier from a meeting with staff and said he hoped the ordeal would end soon.
"You can't cry and moan forever. You got to get up, knock the dust off and keep on moving. And that's what we're going to do," Dixon said.
Two right-wing militia groups say they are prepared to defend the church.
The preacher has vowed to passively resist the seizure, but also has urged supporters including militia members not to resort to violence.
A gentleman in a pickup truck put a sign on a door of the church Tuesday morning that read: "Please don't turn this into another Waco, Texas."
Some church members have said they will not go willingly.
"I spent 13 years in the service of this country in the Air Force," church member Toby Digrugilliers said. "I served in this country so we can enjoy our liberties and freedom.
"Last time I checked we weren't Communist, but I'm beginning to wonder."
Experts have said they believe the case would be the first in which the federal government has confiscated a church in a tax dispute.
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"We're not saying people shouldn't pay taxes. We're just saying it's not the church's responsibility."The congregation will worship Sunday at nearby Indianapolis Manual High School, but Dixon said he was saddened by the loss of the church's school.
"They can't shut the church," Dixon said Monday. "They can't stop the church."
Dixon's support among the thousand members of the independent Baptist congregation remained strong, despite the fight with the IRS.
Bill Chaney, 78, a retired bus and truck driver from nearby Southport, stood inside the sanctuary while his wife, Ruth, 74, sat in a seat. The couple had married there in February.
"I think we'll stay with him all the way," said Bill Chaney, wearing a jacket that identified him as a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association.
Inside the church, slogans on banners proclaimed, "Judge Sarah Evans Barker, God will not be mocked" and "Father, have mercy on them," followed by the names of William Rehnquist and John Paul Stevens. The two U.S. Supreme Court justice in recent days had denied the Baptist Temple's request for a stay of Barker's Sept. 28 order, bringing the Baptist Temple's 16-year dispute with the IRS to a head.
To scores of parishioners who were packing boxes and praying for a reprieve Monday, the lofty legal arguments boiled down to one thing: They were losing their church.
"These walls are very dear to my heart," said 71-year-old Bill Thornburg of Greenwood, a church deacon. His three daughters graduated from the church school, and one of them got married at the church.
Shirley Ward, 44, was wrapping and packing things into boxes alongside other church women. Her 16-year-old daughter Rachel Ward, a junior in the church school, was wheeling a cart loaded with boxes out to a semi trailer to be loaded by other church members.
"All I know is whatever happens, it's God's will," Rachel Ward said.
The independent Baptist church stopped withholding federal income and Social Security taxes from the paychecks of its employees in 1984, saying that its duty to obey God prevailed over manmade laws, and that withholding taxes would make it an agent of the government. Dixon said the employees have paid their own taxes.
"We're not saying people shouldn't pay taxes," Dixon said. "We're just saying it's not the church's responsibility."
The tax lien consists of unpaid back taxes, plus penalties and interest.
Dr. Greg and Wanda Dixon are staying with their son, who is the current pastor of the church. His home is not owned by the church so right now is in no danger of being seized.
