Peters Creek gets
another legal victory
By Edward Terry, The Layman, April 14, 2010
Declaring that property ownership can only be decided by the dictates of civil law, rather than the constitution of a denomination, the Washington County (Pa.) Court of Common Pleas has again ruled in favor of Peters Creek United Presbyterian Church in Venetia, Pa.
This time the congregation won a challenge to its property rights by a minority of members, the group declared the “true church” by the Presbyterian Church (USA) when a majority of Peters Creek voted to join a more conservative denomination.
“The PCUSA has no authority under Pennsylvania civil law to declare that a civil corporation and a particular church i.e. the ‘true church,’ are identical,” the ruling states. “Therefore, while the PCUSA may determine who the ‘true church’ consists of, the provision within the PCUSA Book of Order declaring that the ‘true church’ automatically will retain property in dispute is inconsistent with Pennsylvania’s neutral principles of law approach and is non-binding.”
On March 31, the court denied all seven of the plaintiff’s charges, dismissed the case and awarded control of Peters Creek United Presbyterian Church’s corporation to the defendant. The court calls the case “factually identical” to the 2009 ruling denying Washington Presbytery’s claims on Peters Creek’s property on the same neutral principles of law argument.
In November 2007, the Peters Creek congregation voted 207-26 to leave the PCUSA and affiliate with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC). The Peters Creek trustees then filed a motion for a clear claim to the property, which Washington Presbytery disputed by claiming that the minority that voted against leaving is the “true church” and should be awarded the property and all assets.
Raymond Peterson, chairman of Peters Creek’s legal committee, is hoping that the congregation can move past the nearly three years of legal disputes, but an appeal is anticipated.
In an April 10 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article the Rev. Jeff Tindall, a PCUSA pastor and an attorney for the minority, says that an appeal will be filed.
Peterson said he’s not aware of any plans by Washington Presbytery to appeal. The Layman’s calls to Washington Presbytery were not returned.
“(The PC(USA)) probably has little choice but to appeal and delay the final decision while they try to negotiate with other congregations who want to leave,” Peterson said, adding that further appeals will seem more persecutorial than prosecutorial. “It is all about the property and it has always been thus.”
If there is an appeal, Peters Creek will continue fighting for its property, Peterson said. In three years, the congregation has spent approximately $150,000 on legal fees. He can’t help but wonder how Washington Presbytery is affording its legal bills.
“At the last Presbytery meeting we attended when the original recommendation was made by the administrative commission that we should be released to the EPC, there was a report that the Presbytery legal fund stood at $3,000,” he said, adding that the presbytery’s legal bills should be similar to what Peters Creek has spent. “Wonder where they got the money?”