PANAMA CITY BEACH — The sale of a former Panama City Beach pastor’s mansion that was a point of contention in a state-versus-church controversy has been delayed.
The mansion of Markus Bishop, former pastor of Faith Christian Family Church, was set for the auction block Thursday. Some estimates valued the home at about $4.2 million and the auction was billed as an absolute auction. However, the National Auction Group, the company hired by the church to conduct the auction, delayed the sale.
Representatives of the auction company expect the home to sell within the next few days in closed-door negotiations.
The home was dubbed a tax-exempt parsonage by a Bay County judge after the Bay County Property Appraiser’s Office sued the church for not paying taxes on the property. In the end, the judge ruled that a home owned by a church is tax exempt.