The church declined to say how much money the relief fund has raised, but said in a Wednesday, Aug. 16, statement released by spokesperson Ashton Compton that Harvest has “seen a tremendous ...

Harvest argues that it is autonomous, but fears without a favorable court ruling, Methodists could swoop in and shut down the church, evict its members, and sell property.

However, Harvest attorneys view the dispute differently. “If this was 1880 or even 1920, it would not be worth hearing my argument,” Ryan K. French countered.

The church has publicly offered to pay survivors $62.5 million or $114,000 each. The survivors are asking for nearly $1 billion, or $1.8 million each.

The church declined to say how much money the relief fund has raised, but said in a Wednesday, Aug. 16, statement released by spokesperson Ashton Compton that Harvest has “seen a tremendous ...