Commentary:
Pleading with Pharaoh
Commentary by Parker T. Williamson, The Layman, March 21, 2011
“You can’t give away someone else’s property, and you certainly cannot give it to yourself.” So say congregations that are defending their sanctuaries, bank accounts and endowments from denominational confiscation.
“Au contraire: The law is different where churches are involved,” say high church officials. “When your congregation joined the ‘hierarchical’ [sic] Presbyterian Church (USA), you gave up property rights that other citizens enjoy.”
“But our church’s name is on the deed, and we never signed it over to you.”
“You’re part of a denomination that voted to put your property in trust for itself. You have to play by the rules.”
“Whose rules?”
“Our rules.”
“That’s like saying that if the Rotary Club votes to give its president’s home to the club, he loses his home simply because he’s a member.”
“The Rotary bird might not fly, but churches are different. Churches make their own rules, and the state can’t interfere. Don’t you know about the separation of church and state?”
“We understand that the state can’t tell our congregation what to believe or how to worship, but surely it has something to say about the property that our own people bought, improved and maintain. After all, isn’t property law state law?”
“Not if you’re a Presbyterian,” said the Pharaoh. “In these sacred circles, property law is what the denomination says it is.”
“We are Americans, and we cherish our freedom of assembly, so if that’s the way you play the game, our congregation will change its name.”
“Not without our permission. Lacking proper exit papers you will be schismatic, and schismatics are not recognized as ‘the true church.’ Don’t forget, we’re holding your property for ‘the true church.’”
“What makes a church ‘true?’”
“We do.”
Chaos reigns
Got the picture? A church property battle is being waged in many states today, and various forms of the above arguments are being voiced in civil courtrooms. The fulcrum tends to swing on one question: Is the state wherein the dispute is waged a “hierarchical deference” state or a “neutral principles of law” state? There is a world of difference between the two.
In neutral principles of law states, like Louisiana, Ohio, Mississippi, South Carolina, Georgia and others, judges are deciding church property disputes according to the same rules that govern every other property transaction in the state. Questions like, “What do the local church’s articles of incorporation say?”
“Whose name is on the deed?” and “Did the registered property owner ever place its property in trust for the denomination?” are more determinative than the color of a cleric’s robe, the size of a bureaucrat’s ring, or the protocols that dictate how that ring may be kissed.
In states like Texas and Florida, judges have shown a propensity to bow to denominational Pharaohs, no matter whose name is on the deed.
In New Orleans, the tiny 20-member Carrollton Presbyterian Church successfully defended its property against a phalanx of 12 lawyers whose assaults were bankrolled to the tune of more than $400,000 by denominational mission budgets.
In Ohio, a Presbyterian congregation successfully fought off Eastminster Presbytery all the way to the state supreme court. The presbytery was so chagrined over its defeat that it filed (and lost) a suit against its own lawyer for his alleged mismanagement of the case.
In Georgia, the Timberridge Presbyterian Church was bested by the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta, but the congregation pressed on and reversed the lower court on appeal.
The denomination has tallied victories in California, New York and Indiana, and appeals from some of these cases are working their way up the ladder.
Duel or deal?
Meanwhile, congregations that would rather leave than litigate are cutting deals with their presbyteries, and a fellowship of tall-steeple preachers lacking frogs, locusts or other apparent leverage has issued a “white paper” asking Pharaoh to let their property go.
But where is his incentive to grant such a request? The PCUSA is not a church; it is a dying institution. Desperate to survive, Pharaoh will grasp every asset in sight.
So the chances of accommodation appear dim. Eventually, one or more of the contests being waged by courageous congregations may come before the United States Supreme Court. Maybe those chambers will tell us who can claim the Promised Land.