Judge has not issued ruling in California property dispute
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, March 9, 2005
The Presbyterian Church (USA) recently posted a news story on its Web site that said a California Superior Court judge had ruled that “no local church may unilaterally take … action to renounce the trust relationship in favor of the Presbyterian Church (USA).”
The denomination’s story was referring to a civil action in a case that pits the Presbytery of Hamni against a Korean congregation – Serone Presbyterian Church. The members of the Artesia, Calif., congregation voted to renounce the jurisdiction of the PCUSA and filed a civil action in California state court laying claim to the property. Attorneys for Serone also sought a temporary restraining order seeking to prevent the presbytery from taking over its property.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Yaffe denied the restraining order but did not issue a final ruling on whether the denomination or the congregation was entitled to the property. He did, however, express – but not as a ruling – his own disagreement with a state appellate court decision in a Methodist case. California’s Second District Court of Appeals ruled last year that a local congregation had the right to revoke a denominational property trust clause.
Yaffe is not scheduled to be the trial judge in the Serone case.
The PCUSA news story said Yaffe “ruled” that “California law makes very clear that a local church cannot avoid the trust language in the Book of Order by simply amending its own articles or bylaws.” But Yaffe did not issue any such ruling.
In the meantime, the members of the Serone congregation are continuing to use the building. At times, they have had armed guards present to prohibit the presbytery from confiscating it by force.
The Serone case is somewhat unique. The church was organized as an independent congregation. The congregation had constructed and paid for its building before Serone became a PCUSA congregation.