Churches own their properties, final declaratory judgments state
By Patrick Jean, March 8, 2007
Final declaratory judgments giving two Mississippi churches ownership of their properties without interference by Mississippi Presbytery or the Presbyterian Church (USA) have been entered in court.
A final declaratory judgment was entered March 2 in the case brought by First Presbyterian Church of Vicksburg. Warren County Chancery Court Chancellor Vicki R. Barnes signed the judgment, ending litigation that began Jan. 4.
A final declaratory judgment also was entered March 2 in the lawsuit brought by First Presbyterian Church of Pascagoula. Jackson County Chancery Court Chancellor Randy Pierce signed the judgment, ending the case that began Feb. 5.
The two First Presbyterian churches, and J.J. White Memorial Presbyterian Church in McComb, filed their cases against Mississippi Presbytery after the presbytery adopted a new policy on Nov. 30, 2006, not to fight a member church “which would ask the courts of the State of Mississippi to clear its property of any claims made by higher governing bodies against that property.”
J.J. White was the first church to test the new policy, filing suit exactly one week after its enactment. The McComb church also was the first to enter an agreed settlement with the presbytery, with Pike County Chancery Court Chancellor Deborah K. Halford signing and entering a final declaratory judgment on Feb. 26.
All three judgments were reached after Mississippi Presbytery members voted at their Feb. 24 stated meeting to instruct their attorney to amicably resolve the lawsuits.
The text of the judgments comes from a draft written by Stewart Robison, attorney for J.J. White and an elder of the church, and a three-person subcommittee appointed Jan. 18 by the Presbytery Council. The subcommittee members and Robison made their proposed final judgment in the J.J. White case a template to apply to the Vicksburg and Pascagoula cases and any future cases.
Each judgment states that:
- “All property, whether real or personal, together with all buildings and improvements thereon, wherever located, held by, for or in” the church’s name, “and all property which may hereafter be acquired in any manner by” the church, “is held and owned in fee simple for the sole and exclusive use and benefit” of the church.
- “[N]either the Presbytery of Mississippi, nor any person, entity, administrative unit, agency, commission, committee or governing body acting on behalf of the Presbytery of Mississippi … has any right, title or interest in or to the property, whether in trust or otherwise, nor any right to determine or control, directly or indirectly, the use or ownership of the property.”
- “[T]he Presbytery of Mississippi, any persons in active concert of participation with it, on its behalf or in its stead, shall not taken retaliatory action against” the church “that violates, directly or indirectly, this judgment, or that otherwise may affect the property rights of” the church.
Each judgment also renders moot stipulated preliminary injunctions that were entered in the McComb and Vicksburg cases and sought in the Pascagoula case.
Both sides in each case have 30 days to appeal. But an appeal of an agreed judgment is highly unlikely.
Patrick Jean is a staff writer for The Layman and The Layman Online. He can be reached at pjean@layman.org.