In the Matter of a Mail Dispute Between:

REV. PAUL N. CARRITHERS
and
REV. FRANK MUNKEL

P.S. Docket No. MD-119

08/15/91

Mason, Randolph D., Administrative Judge

APPEARANCE FOR REV. CARRITHERS: Rev. Paul N. Carrithers,
P.O. Box 5128, Newport News, VA 23605-0128

APPEARANCE FOR REV. MUNKEL: Leo Jon Perk, Esq.,
780 Pilot House Drive, Suite 200-A, Newport News, VA 23606-1943

INITIAL DECISION

This mail dispute proceeding was docketed under Domestic Mail Manual § 153.72, which requires Regional Counsel to forward certain unresolved mail disputes to this Department for decision. Disputant Munkel filed a written submittal under 39 C.F.R. § 965.5 and a comment under § 65.6, and Disputant Carrithers filed a submittal with comments. The dispute concerns delivery of mail addressed to Unity Church of Williamsburg, P.O. Box 646, Williamsburg, VA 23187-0646. The following findings of fact and conclusions of law are based upon the submittals, comments, and exhibits attached thereto:

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. In April of 1974, Rev. Paul N. Carrithers graduated from the Unity Ministerial School operated by the Association of Unity Churches, and was ordained as a Unity Minister. In September of 1977, Rev. Carrithers started the Christ Church of Truth in Williamsburg, VA. In 1988 the name of the church was changed to Unity Church of Williamsburg.

2. Rev. Carrithers originally applied for P.O. Box 646, Williamsburg, VA, on September 27, 1978, on behalf of the Christ Church of Truth. He used the box to receive mail addressed to the the church and to receive personal mail, including mail addressed to Kerr Marketing. After the name of the church was changed in 1988, the box application was updated to reflect the boxholder as the Unity Church of Williamsburg.

3. Rev. Carrithers paid the box rent until he retired, and thereafter it was paid by the church.

4. In about June of 1990, Rev. Carrithers retired from the active ministry. On July 1, 1990, Disputant Rev. Frank Munkel was contacted through the Association of Unity Churches and employed as the minister of the Unity Church of Williamsburg. At that time, Rev. Carrithers gave Rev. Munkel one of two keys which he had to P.O. Box 646.

5. On February 8, 1991, some members of the church's Board of Directors attempted to terminate the employment of Rev. Munkel. The latter contacted Mr. Hugh White, the Board President, and requested that Mr. White come to Rev. Munkel's house and pick up the property he had belonging to the church. At that time, Rev. Munkel returned the key to P.O. Box 646 to Mr. White. It was considered church property.

6. The group of directors who opposed Munkel then asked Rev. Carrithers to be its minister. He accepted, and the latter church group has continued to operate at its longstanding location in Williamsburg, VA, using the same name "Unity Church of Williamsburg."

7. Thereafter, Rev. Munkel moved his church and the members of the congregation who followed him to a new location in Newport News, VA, about 30 miles from the meeting place of the old church in Williamsburg, VA. The Munkel group also calls itself the "Unity Church of Williamsburg." However, the latter is the only church which is officially authorized by the Association of Unity Churches. Rev. Carrithers and his church group are not recognized by the Association.

8. Rev. Carrithers' church still meets at its original location in Williamsburg, VA.

9. Although he previously returned the key to P.O. Box 646 to the church board, Rev. Munkel now seeks to gain control of that box.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

1. Reverend Carrithers takes the position that he has always controlled P.O. Box 646 and that he merely allowed Reverend Munkel to use the box during the latter's tenure. Reverend Munkel argues that the box always belonged to the Unity Church of Williamsburg, and that his church group is the only one authorized by the Association of Unity Churches.

2. The record supports Rev. Munkel's position. As reflected on the box application, the boxholder was always the Unity Church of Williamsburg (or its predecessor), not Reverend Carrithers. The fact that Rev. Carrithers also received personal mail at the box does not detract from this conclusion. When Rev. Carrithers retired, he gave the key to the new minister of the church, Rev. Munkel, and Rev. Carrithers stopped paying the box rent. Although Rev. Carrithers alleges that Rev. Munkel was later "fired," the Association of Unity Churches disagrees and still considers Rev. Munkel to be the minister of the Unity Church of Williamsburg. Since the Association of Unity Churches does not recognize Rev. Carrithers' church, and Unity churches derive their authority from the Association, it is clear that Rev. Carrithers' church is not the officially recognized Unity Church of Williamsburg.

3. Accordingly, since the boxholder of P.O. Box 646 is the Unity Church of Williamsburg, all mail addressed to that entity at that address should be delivered in accordance with the instructions of Rev. Frank Munkel, the only officially recognized minister of that church.

4. This decision only resolves the question of the delivery of mail addressed to P.O. Box 646, and does not reach the issue of ownership of any mail. Accordingly, in the event that Rev. Munkel receives any mail that is intended for Rev. Carrithers' church, he is responsible for forwarding such mail to Rev. Carrithers.

5. The attached mail delivery order should be issued.