As a result of Liberty Counsel’s religious discrimination lawsuit on behalf of Calvary Chapel Belfast, the University of Maine System (UMS) has agreed to pause the discriminatory sale of the Hutchinson Center building after the university had rescinded the church’s winning bid over its Christian beliefs. UMS filed a sworn declaration in U.S. District Court stating it is pausing all negotiations, contracts, sale, or transfer of the property while the church appeals with the university its bidding process decisions.

According to the lawsuit, Calvary Chapel Belfast outscored two other competitors and “rightfully earned” the winning bid to solely negotiate the purchase of UMS’s Hutchinson Center, a building no longer in use by the university. However, the lawsuit alleges UMS officials conspired with one of the competing, secular bidders, Waldo Community Action Partners (WCAP), to rescind the award over the church’s scriptural beliefs on marriage and sexuality, and subsequently rigged a second bidding process awarding WCAP with the winning bid. Liberty Counsel alleges that UMS, Maine’s largest educational enterprise, has unlawfully conspired and discriminated against the church on the basis of religion in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments and requires a temporary restraining order to prevent irreparable infringement on the church’s rights. 

In August 2024, Calvary Chapel Belfast submitted its bid to UMS for the Hutchinson Center, a building where it had previously rented space, to expand its congregation and community outreach. In addition to WCAP, the other competing bidder was Future of the Hutchinson Center Steering Committee and Waterfall Arts (FHC-WA). Once UMS announced the church as the winning bidder, both competing bidders sent a series of protest letters to the university attacking the church’s religious beliefs. As the lawsuit reads, FHC-WA essentially wrote that UMS should rescind the award because “a Christian church would necessarily discriminate against gays and lesbians.” WCAP’s protest letter also attacked the church stating it must not receive the property because its “very design” as a Christian Church was discriminatory and that its religious values should preclude it from the award. Initially, UMS defended its property sale to the church issuing a press release stating, “The university cannot discriminate, including on the basis of religion. Doing so would be against the law and inconsistent with the university’s commitment to inclusion.”

However, after continued public pressure, UMS’s Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration Ryan Low summarily rescinded the church’s bid award. While citing that WCAP’s protest had no merit, Low determined FHC-WA’s protest did have merit because the initial bid process contained a logistical and financial deficiency regarding how a university Internet hub in the Hutchinson Center would be handled. Despite the church having already negotiated with the university during its bid about leasing space for the hub, the lawsuit contends Low used the hub issue as a pretext to cover for the religious discrimination and force a second bidding process.

In October 2024, UMS held that second bidding process for the Hutchinson Center, but this time included a mandatory leaseback provision for the Internet hub. Calvary Chapel Belfast submitted a second bid that included an offer to provide a free lease for the hub’s closet space eliminating any financial burden on the university. Despite the church outscoring the other bidders again on most criteria except for purchase price, in which WCAP nearly tripled its offer, Low awarded the bid to WCAP. 

“The decision to select WCAP as the purchaser, coupled with the shifting justifications provided throughout the bidding processes, demonstrates UMS’s failure to act neutrally and fairly in its treatment of the Church on the basis of the Church’s religion,” concluded Liberty Counsel. 

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “Pausing the sale of the property is a good first step. However, the University of Maine System has violated the First Amendment by discriminating against Calvary Chapel Belfast because of its Christian beliefs. The church participated in the bidding processes in good faith, but the university unlawfully discriminated against the church’s religious beliefs. Such discrimination is unlawful and may end up being a costly mistake for the University of Maine System.”