Image Credit: Fort Bluff Camp
Tennessee Conservative News Staff –
A dispute between the National Association of Christian Athletes (NACA) and one of the state’s most well-known Christian colleges over the ownership and operation of sports and retreat center Fort Bluff Camp is seeing some movement on an appeal by NACA as the suit has dragged out for over five years in a protracted legal battle.
Case History:
NACA, which was founded in 1980, has owned and operated Fort Bluff Camp (FBC) since at least 1990, building “extensive facilities on the property that have been utilized for athletic events, tournaments, and hosting thousands of campers throughout the years for churches, schools, and organizations.”
Beginning in 2009, amid misconduct allegations against one of NACA’s original incorporators, the organization sought a change in leadership with the help of Bryan College, a private Christian university in Dayton, TN. From 2009 to 2016, the NACA legal appeal states Bryan, through then college President Steven Livesay, “provided oversight and leadership to NACA and assisted in resolving litigation pending against NACA.”
But according to NACA officials, that’s where things started to become hazy. NACA says that during the transition several of their board members resigned, only to be replaced with Bryan affiliates, including Bryan President Livesay who served as NACA’s board chairman.
NACA claims Bryan’s dominance of the board was a conflict of interest per the law and allowed the school undue influence to force decisions the organization may not otherwise have made. In 2016, Bryan’s Board of Directors approved a transfer of ownership of the camp from NACA to the college, which would assume the FBC’s debt of $920,000. As of a 2016 appraisal, the FBC facilities were valued at approximately $7 million dollars.
Bryan was to then lease the property back to NACA for ongoing use. Two leases were proposed, according to the case history, one not requiring any rent to be paid by NACA so long as Bryan ended its fiscal year “in the black” and another lease requiring a monthly payment of $10,000 regardless of NACA’s financial condition.
Board member Vance Berger reportedly executed the second lease on behalf of NACA, which subsequently paid around $220,000 to Bryan over two years. NACA stopped payments in 2018, citing an oral agreement to offset rent with a new $200,000 building it had constructed. NACA also asked for return ownership of Fort Bluff which Bryan refused.
Litigation was then initiated by Bryan for breach of lease in 2019. NACA filed a countersuit, claiming board members affiliated with Bryan College had taken improper action to claim ownership, violating certain procedures required by the Secretary of State for transference of nonprofits, and the school had wrongfully enriched itself through the deal.
All NACA’s claims were initially dismissed by the court in 2020 with the determination that NACA had sued the wrong party (the ruling suggested it should have sued its own directors and officers and that it had waited too long to act). Bryan was awarded possession of the property and a judgement for $370,000 in unpaid rent and an additional $393,557 in attorney’s fees.
NACA’s appeal to the Tennessee Appellate Court in Knoxville was successful, and the higher court vacated the lower court’s ruling, sending the case back down and stating NACA’s claims of fraudulent inducement, unjust enrichment, and conversion could be heard. The court did not validate the merits of the claims, merely afforded an opportunity for NACA to prove them at the lower court level.
But that was nearly three years ago. NACA believes Bryan is using its superior financial resources and influence to hinder the legal process, putting a strain on NACA’s significantly smaller resource pool.
Two Perspectives:
In a previous interview with The Tennessee Conservative, NACA President/CEO John Ballinger expounds on the history of the NACA’s internal issues leading to the board transitions and the organization’s stances of wrongdoing and collusion by Bryan in the following litigation.
“Most states say that a board member has a primary responsibility, and that’s to be a fiduciary for that nonprofit, which means you have to be concerned with how the money that comes in from the shareholders is spent in order for the nonprofit to fulfill its mission,” Ballinger shared. “So, when you have comingled boards with comingled executives from both organizations…you had executives, chairmen, and board members that were comingled, and then you had the legal and accounting that were both organizations. And, on nonprofit boards, each year you’re supposed to sign what’s called conflicts of interest statement that explain that you can’t have close ties.”
Tennessee Conservative News also contacted current Bryan College President Doug Mann regarding the litigation and received an emailed statement further detailing the school’s position.
It read, in part, “Bryan College is thankful that both the General Sessions Court and the Circuit Court agree that Bryan is the proper owner of the [camp]. Though litigation is always difficult, the Bryan College Board’s ultimate responsibility is to be a good steward of the resources with which Bryan has been entrusted… From the beginning of this situation, Bryan has consulted external legal advisors and independent financial auditors to guide its efforts.
Moreover, it has covered this situation in prayer. We are looking forward to a final resolution of this litigation and to what the Lord wants us to do with the Camp. As is the case with every decision made by the Bryan College Board of Trustees and college administration, we continue striving to advance our mission of educating students to become servants of Christ to make a difference in today’s world.”
In a recent Tennessee Conservative News interview with NACA President/CEO John Ballinger, he responded to the Bryan College statement by stating that the Knoxville Court of Appeals actually eviscerated the ruling that was in their favor so their statement is erroneous.
Ballinger also said he has pleaded repeatedly with the college to enter into mediation but they have refused.
He cited Corinthians Chapter 6, which he paraphrased, “Christian organizations should not take their difference to non-Christians to settle them. …Biblically , we shouldn’t even be doing this,“ he said.
Ballinger said if the college is “really concerned about being a good fiduciary and good steward over it (Fort Bluff Camp), they would sit down and say ‘what can we do jointly to move this forward?'”
What’s Next:
NACA’s John Ballinger is set to be deposed on December 3rd, 2025 – a promising sign that the appeal may finally be seeing some long-awaited action. However, Ballinger indicated this is the second time the deposition has been rescheduled and expects it to be pushed out again.
While a deposition is not an indication that the case will go to trial imminently, it does offer some hope to those who love both institutions and desire a swift and just resolution that keeps the best interests of the children FBC is intended to serve at the forefront.
In the meantime, Bryan retains ownership of Fort Bluff Camp until the appeal is settled.
