Second church in Mississippi files court action over property
By Patrick Jean, January 10, 2007
The Presbytery of Mississippi is facing a second civil court action by a member church seeking clear title to its property without interference by the presbytery or the Presbyterian Church (USA).
Points of contention
The petition by First Presbyterian Church in Vicksburg for a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction and declaratory judgment against the Presbytery of Mississippi contends that three clauses in the Book of Order are unconstitutional and do not apply under state law:
- G-8.0201, which asserts that “All property held by or for a particular church … is held in trust nevertheless for the use and benefit of the Presbyterian Church (USA).”
- G-8.0600, which asserts that a presbytery may dictate ownership of local church property located within the geographic bounds of the presbytery.
- G-8.0301, which asserts that when a local church ceases to be a particular church of the PCUSA, its property shall be “held, used, applied, transferred, or sold as provided by the presbytery.”
First Presbyterian Church of Vicksburg filed a petition for a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction and declaratory judgment Jan. 4 in Warren County Chancery Court. The petition was filed by church attorneys Blake Teller and Jim Chaney, who also are elders of the church.
A hearing is scheduled next week before a court chancellor to determine whether the preliminary injunction is appropriate. The temporary restraining order could be issued then, Teller said.
The Rev. John C. Dudley, stated clerk of Mississippi Presbytery, said he could not comment on the petition because he had not yet been served with a copy.
The filing was years in the making, Teller said. First Presbyterian Church leaders have always believed their 177-year-old church was exempt from any property dispute with the 24-year-old PCUSA, he said.
“We’ve been confused about the issue for several years now,” Teller said. And the PCUSA sees it differently from them, he said.
Teller said the matter came to a head last September, when a church in neighboring Louisiana went to court to be declared the sole owner of its property.
That case was resolved in November when the Presbytery of South Louisiana agreed that First Presbyterian Church in Baton Rouge owned its property.
When Mississippi Presbytery was taken to court last month by J.J. White Memorial Presbyterian Church in McComb, Teller said it inspired the session of First Presbyterian Church in Vicksburg to authorize “copycat” action.
“We’re just trying to clarify something we’ve believed for a long time,” he said. The church wants to conduct capital campaigns and borrow money “without the cloud over our head of the [denomination’s] trust clause,” Teller said.
The hearing is scheduled Jan. 16. “We really anticipate that it will not be adversarial,” he said.
Patrick Jean is a staff writer for The Layman Online. He can be reached at pjean@www.layman.org.