The pavilion was erected for the expressed purpose of housing the Sunday crowd which
has always met in that location. The main building John wants to claim is for Alpha
functions are another matter. Frank Brady was to the first to recognize the need for a
kitchen. At that time we were using the single bathroom provided by the Sweatt’s along
with two porta pottys so we did need better restroom facilities.
Let’s examine the need for the building:
Public bathrooms - yes.
Kitchen - when feeding the church but no longer needed for that function.
Offices - yes for Alpha/Freedom Ranch. The total office space is about 20x25 feet so a
much smaller building would suffice.
Church - an emphatic "no."
John has said from the inception, and all agreed we would never go back into a building
for a Sunday service, as the pavilion always has been and will continue be the meeting
place for the “church”. So what does the building get used for other that the above? The
children are corralled in the building on Sunday to keep them from running wild around
the park as in the first years. The ranch does provide a play area for the children. We
started feeding the people from the first Sunday meeting in 2001. Is was pot luck and
provided by the people that attended the service. The meat was either killed on the ranch,
pork or beef, or provided by one of the ranchers that attended. The crowd became so
large that the pop luck dinner became unmanageable so we started cooking on the back
porch of the larger cook shack. Around that time, Frank Brady started providing the meat
from his ranch or bought chicken and continued to overseeing the cooking. That sufficed
for a few years until Frank brought up the need for the kitchen. As we needed restrooms,
we decided to erect the main building now in contention. Frank Brady continued to
provide the meat and oversee the cooking. Once a month Stan & Betty LaMaster would
bring a big trailer mounted cooker, at no cost to the ranch or Alpha, from Hobe Sound and
cook chicken or ribs. There came a time when John shut down the food program so the
kitchen was no longer used for serving the people. That left only the need of restrooms for
the Sunday crowd.
Now let’s look at what the building IS used for:
Many money making event held on the ranch make some use of the building for cooking
and or serving food. The single largest money making event of the year is the “Craft Fair
in the Woods”. The name say it all - in the woods - not in the building. In 2013 the craft
fair did about $8,000 and we are told it was even bigger this year. Many weddings are
held in the park and some in the pavilion. We’ve had car shows, funerals, youth events
involving bands, flea markets, veteran’s get-togethers, family reunions and many other
events on the ranch, nearly all of which took place out doors in the pavilion and the park.
The income from every event every held on the ranch was under the complete control of
John Glenn. Only John knows for sure where the money went. What can be said is that
the main building is seldom used to its capacity and has never been used by Alpha to a
great extent. It is most often used by Freedom Ranch and even then the money goes to
Alpha even though Freedom Ranch is the provider of nearly everything used during any
event.
We can sum up John‘s reasoning as follows:
John Glenn believes he, and his alter ego, Alpha, own the building and are entitled to
occupy the property for life. Freedom Ranch shall host John and Alpha and pay most if
not all bills incurred by John and Alpha and will also provide free use of the pavilion,
Chickee hut, extensive park and wedding area and large arena, to name a few items. All
this for free as John decided to stop paying the $5,000 per month lease Alpha agreed to
pay. He has also decided all rent and lease payment from tenants on the ranch are now
designated as “love offerings” to Alpha.
Who owns the building? That is an easy question to answer; Freedom Ranch Inc. owns
the building according to Florida real estate law.
Who paid for the building?
By John Glenn’s own admission, Alpha contributed about one third of the price, but did
it? That money came entirely in the form of donations from individuals who designated
the use of that money for the building fund. John was adamant about keeping those funds
separate from the general funds or tithes and said so on many occasions. On a weekly
basis, John would tell the congregation to make sure the checks were designated to the
building fund. John likewise says other large benefactors contributed the rest of the
money or the remaining two thirds. I don’t know of one check written to Alpha that went
to the building fund but they were few if at all. That being said, it still does not override
Florida Real Estate law which says anything dug into or built onto that does not fall into
the classification of personal property, is part of the property. Even if John could make a
case for Alpha owning the building, he can’t pay Alpha bills from the Freedom Ranch
account and refuse to make lease payments to Freedom Ranch and still expect to stay on
the property regardless of ownership.