Court asked to declare Huntsville church, not PCUSA, owns its property By Craig M. Kibler Staff Writer The Layman Online Wednesday, January 31, 2007 The trustees of Central Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Ala., are asking a court to declare that it, and not the Presbyterian Church (USA), owns the congregation's property. Pending a hearing on the issue, the Circuit Court of Madison County also is being asked to grant a preliminary injunction to bar the Presbytery of North Alabama from any action designed to take over the congregation's property. In their request for a declaratory judgment on the congregation's property, the trustees are asking the court to rule that the property "is held without any trust in favor of the national denomination or any of its regional administrative units, such as the presbytery" and that "neither the PCUSA nor the presbytery has any right, title or interest in said property, nor right to determine or interfere with the ownership thereof or the exercise of rights therein." According to Alabama law, the Presbytery of Northern Alabama has 30 days in which to respond to the case. In a letter sent to the congregation's members Jan. 29, the Rev. Dr. Randall T. Jenkins emphasized that "it is important to note what this action [by the trustees] does not do: it is not an act of disaffiliation with the PCUSA. It is not an ecclesiastical action. Rather, it is a legal action related to our property rights." He wrote that "there has been a quiet but ever growing debate within the PCUSA as to property ownership, with the denomination claiming title to all local church property. As part of the fiduciary responsibility entrusted to this congregation by individuals and previous generations, the session deemed it an act of good stewardship to proceed in this fashion." Jenkins also said there have been "discussions relative to the needs of our aging building and the potential for an addition to better serve future ministry opportunities. The session and trustees recognized that any capital campaign to fund these renovations and possible expansion would be greatly hindered by this local congregation not having clear title to the property." Because of the "way our legal system works," he wrote, "pursuing this clarity required filing a lawsuit." Jenkins, head of staff for the 280-member congregation, also said the congregation's trustees "have taken the step of having a temporary restraining order prepared, but not filed, in the unlikely chance that some within our presbytery would take aggressive actions against this church. It is the hope of the session and the trustees that this claim will be resolved quickly and amicably. We believe that the facts and the law are so clearly in our favor that little argument needs to be, or can be, raised." The court filing cited as some examples of "aggressive actions" the following: Should a congregational meeting be held to discuss whether to continue or discontinue affiliation with the PCUSA. "The presbytery could (and on the basis of actions elsewhere by PCUSA presbyteries, would) attempt to take pre-emptive action to preclude or pre-determine such vote(s) through depriving plaintiff of its rights under Alabama law and the Alabama and United States Constitutions." "The use of an administrative commission, though purportedly for ecclesiastical governance, is the mechanism or device which has actually been used by the PCUSA in its efforts to seize ownership and control over local church property. There are presently cases pending in other jurisdictions in which such actions have been undertaken." "PCUSA presbyteries, in response to dissent (whether perceived or actual) by local congregations, ministers, church officers and trustees to certain denominational actions, have in other actual situations engaged in the following action: "(a) taken actions intended to assert ownership or place clouds on otherwise merchantable local property titles by recording, without prior notice, affidavits or other documents in local mortgage and conveyance records, improperly asserting trusts on local church property in favor of the denomination. Such action is taken regardless of the facts of a local church's property history or the laws of the state in which local church property is situated; "(b) without notice, sought to change locks on local church property and otherwise seize local church assets; and "(c) appointed 'administrative commissions' to assert 'original jurisdiction' to supplant existing congregational governance by removing, without prior notice and opportunity for hearing, dissenting ministers and sessions. Such actions permit the PCUSA presbytery to effectively confiscate local church property and treat it as if such property was its own. "In further illustration of the aggressive tactics being used by PCUSA presbyteries and their use of 'administrative commissions' as the mechanism or device to try and seize denominational ownership and control over local church property, the PCUSA has prepared legal strategy memoranda." Those documents, known as "The Louisville Papers," were published by The Layman Online. "No attempt," the filing states, "has been made by the PCUSA to dispute the authenticity of these memoranda, to retrieve them, or to prohibit their further circulation. These PCUSA memoranda: a) "advocate use of 'administrative commissions' specifically for church property disputes, and in conjunction therewith advises how to remove the local pastor and/or governing board of the local church; b) "advise how to freeze local church assets and physically seize property; c) "recommend placing a cloud on local church property titles by filing affidavits in property records, irrespective of state law or the facts of any property in dispute; d)"recommend mailing letters concerning contested property to any banks or other financial institutions that hold accounts for the local church, which letters 'order' that no assets be released to the local church; e) "instruct presbyteries to investigate the religious background of any judge assigned to the case in order to exploit potential partiality or religious bias; f) "recommend that presbyteries in their pleadings 'use spiritual language' in order to posture themselves in a positive light, and to negatively refer to the local church in the caption and in pleadings as 'schismatic;' and g) "recommend to presbyteries, through the use of administrative commissions, to try and keep the local church in a defensive secular legal posture, counseling 'Let the schismatics seek Caesar's help.'" A question and answer paper sent to church members further emphasizes that "filing this suit is not an act of disaffiliation. … It should be plainly stated that at some point in time we may need to candidly discuss our continued relationship with the PCUSA, but the action the trustees has taken does not in any way deal with disaffiliation." The paper also cited the 217th General Assembly's approval of the report by the Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity. "The debate over local Presbyterian church property has become widespread throughout the United States in the aftermath of passage, at the 217th General Assembly in June 2006 of the 'Peace, Unity and Purity' (PUP) report," it states. "That passage effectively amended the denominational constitution without the normal requirement of submission to the presbyteries for ratification, and adopted a 'local option' policy for ordination," the filing states. "This policy permits sessions and presbyteries, at their choosing, to suspend any ordination standard they feel appropriate. "As a result of the passage of PUP," the filing states, "many traditional Presbyterian congregations throughout the United States are evaluating their future relationships with the PCUSA." Craig M. Kibler is the Director of Publications for the Presbyterian Lay Committee and Executive Editor of The Layman and The Layman Online. He can be reached at cmkibler@layman.org.

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