California court authorizes depositions of PCUSA officials in property dispute
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, July 11, 2005
The dispute over the property of Serone Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles, a Korean congregation whose majority voted to leave the Presbyterian Church (USA), began to take a new tack today.
Paul Rolf Jensen, the attorney for Serone’s majority group, was scheduled to take a deposition from Elenora Giddings Ivory in Washington, D.C., this morning to become part of the record in the civil trial being conducted by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Tricia Bigelow.
Last week, Bigelow ruled, over the objections of lawyers representing the PCUSA-supported minority faction, that Jensen had the right to depose Ivory and other denominational officials, including Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick; Gradye Parsons of the Stated Clerk’s Office; and Laurie Griffith of the Office of Constitutional Services.
Jensen was also seeking an amendment to the judge’s order to include a deposition from Mark Tammen, director of Constitutional Services.
Bigelow’s order specified that each deponent produce all requested documents that “can be located following a reasonable and diligent search …”
In seeking the authority to take the depositions, Jensen submitted individual notices that cited areas for which he requests documents and about which he said he would pose questions. They include:
Elenora Giddings Ivory
- The PCUSA’s sponsorship of an April 2004 pro-abortion rally in Washington.
- The Washington Office budget.
- Attempts to influence the “passage or defeat of any legislation pending before any body of Congress for the period January 1, 2001, to the date of production.”
- Correspondence with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service “respecting any aspect of the work of the Washington Office.”
Clifton Kirkpatrick
- The creation of Hamni Presbytery.
- Hamni Presbytery’s “approval, acquiescence in or ratification of Chapter VIII of the Book of Order.” [Chapter VIII is the clause that says every congregation holds its property in trust for the benefit of the denomination.]
- The membership of Serone Presbyterian Church “or any predecessor entity of Serone Church Inc.”
- The Articles of Incorporation of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and all amendments.
- Hollywood Presbyterian Church and Dr. Alan Meenan and Dr. David Manock, who have been placed on administrative leave by an administration commission from the Presbytery of the Pacific.
- Other individuals: Margaret Wentz, stated clerk for the Synod of Southern California and Hawaii; the Rev. William Pawson; the Rev. Mark Brewer; Christopher Pae; and Carl James Sohn. Jensen also put himself on the list.
Gradye Parsons and Laurie Griffith
The request for depositions covered essentially the same areas topics and individuals that Jensen listed for Kirkpatrick.