After years of legal disputes, six-time Grammy-winning Christian pop singer Amy Grant and her family have secured a decisive court victory over control of a downtown Nashville church founded by her great-grandfather nearly a century ago.
The Nashville Church of Christ, formerly Central Church of Christ, was established in 1925 by Andrew Mizell “A.M.” Burton, a prominent businessman and philanthropist. Burton, who founded Life & Casualty Insurance Co., donated much of his wealth to Christian organizations and charities before his death in 1966. The church once boasted hundreds of members and stood as a vibrant part of the city’s faith community.
The conflict began in 2017 when businessman Shawn Mathis, who had joined the church while it was still Central Church of Christ, gained increasing control over its leadership. The following year, he persuaded the elders to transfer the congregation’s assets, worth an estimated $30 million, into a new nonprofit entity under the name Nashville Church of Christ. Soon after, the physical church was shuttered, its doors boarded up, while Mathis oversaw operations that largely functioned online.
The church continued to generate significant revenue—about $40,000 per month—through two parking lots it owned near Nashville’s music district. Mathis drew a salary of $138,250 plus housing allowances, while his father, listed as a minister, also received more than $100,000 annually, according to reporting by The Wall Street Journal.
Grant and her cousin Andy Burton, acting as co-administrators of the Burton estate, challenged Mathis’s control, arguing that the church’s deed made clear the property could only be used for its original religious purpose. The Tennessee Attorney General also launched an investigation, while lawsuits and countersuits ensued.
“This year, downtown Nashville’s Central Church of Christ should be celebrating a 100-year anniversary of serving the community,” Grant’s spokesperson Brandon Gee said earlier in the dispute. “Instead, it stands as a shuttered eyesore serving outsiders who preyed on a vulnerable congregation to gain control of the property.”
On Wednesday, a Tennessee State Court approved a settlement that ruled in favor of Grant and her family. The decision found that Mathis’s actions violated the deed restrictions, which required the property to remain under trustees who were both members of the Church of Christ and of the Central congregation.
The court ordered that the building be returned to the Burton estate and sold at fair market value, with most of the proceeds benefiting the estate.
Grant welcomed the ruling, telling The Wall Street Journal, “Our relationship with Shawn Mathis is now finished.”
For Grant, the case was never about financial gain but about protecting her great-grandfather’s vision. “This is all about the legacy of A.M. Burton,” she previously said. “To me, the family has to get involved because otherwise that property is at a standstill. And that doesn’t make any sense.”
To honor Burton’s philanthropic spirit, Grant announced the creation of the A.M. Burton / Matthew 25 Fund, which will focus on service and community empowerment. “We start from humble beginnings, just like Burton,” she wrote in an op-ed for Tennessee Lookout. “We will be guided by his example of service, community empowerment, and civic responsibility, with a core mission to uplift individuals and thus strengthen our city.”
Grant noted that Burton gave away more than $100 million before his death—an amount equivalent to about $1 billion today. She believes his story remains a roadmap for her family’s ongoing work: providing charity medical care, disaster relief, affordable housing, and childcare.
“It’s time to walk the walk,” Grant wrote. “The community’s voice, support, and needs will determine our future.”