Civil court cases are under way involving ex-PCUSA congregations
By John H. Adams, The Layman Volume 38, Number 1, April 12, 2005
At least two property-dispute cases are under way in civil courts involving Presbyterian Church (USA) congregations 3,000 miles apart. Both congregations, which are evangelical and orthodox, voted to leave the PCUSA because of their disagreement with the actions and decisions of Presbyterian leaders.
In California, Serone Church, an independent Korean congregation in Artesia, is trying to fend off the Presbytery of Hamni’s attempt to seize its property and assets.
In North Carolina, Hephzibah Evangelical Church near Bessemer City has asked the North Carolina Court of Appeals to reverse a ruling by a state judge, who awarded the property to the presbytery.
Both congregations are challenging the PCUSA’s property trust clause, G-8.0201in the Book of Order, which states:
“All property held by or for a particular church, a presbytery, a synod, the General Assembly, or the Presbyterian Church (USA), whether legal title is lodged in a corporation, a trustee or trustees, or an unincorporated association, and whether the property is used in programs of a particular church or of a more inclusive governing body or retained for the production of income, is held in trust nevertheless for the use and benefit of the Presbyterian Church (USA).”
California case
In the California case, the Presbytery of Hamni contends that the Serone congregation must forfeit the church property because it renounced the jurisdiction of the PCUSA. The Serone congregation, which owned its property debt-free before affiliating with the PCUSA, contends that it is not subject to the denomination’s property trust clause.
The case has not yet been tried, but a state judge did deny the Serone congregation’s request for a restraining order that would have prevented the presbytery from sending representatives to the church in an attempt to take over the building. Meanwhile, the Korean congregation has posted armed guards at the church to prevent the seizure while its lawyers prepare to argue the case in Superior Court.
The California state judge did not prohibit the Serone congregation from continuing to use the building. Another trial judge will hear arguments in the case later.
The Serone case hinges on a 2004 ruling by a California appellate court in a Methodist property dispute. The Methodist Book of Discipline has a property trust clause that is similar to the PCUSA’s. Under California property and trust laws, the California appellate court held that a denomination could not require a local church to adhere to a property trust clause that was unilaterally imposed.
In 2002, 47 of the 50 members of Hephzibah Presbyterian Church renounced the jurisdiction of the PCUSA.
Knowing that the PCUSA Constitution says congregations hold their property in trust for the denomination, Hephzibah adopted a new name – Hephzibah Evangelical Presbyterian Church – and filed a new deed, conveying the property to the evangelical congregation. The Presbytery of Western North Carolina filed suit.
The state trial court upheld the denomination’s trust clause and awarded the property to the presbytery.
Hephzibah Evangelical Church appealed. No date has been set for a hearing before the North Carolina Court of Appeals.