Fair Oaks reaches departure
settlement with synod
The Layman, November 17, 2010
Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church, nearly four years after it began the process of departing from the Presbyterian Church (USA), has reached a property settlement agreement with the denomination.
According to the Fair Oaks Web site, negotiations with the Synod of the Pacific concluded on Nov. 8 with a handshake agreement that now is being reviewed and up for approval in the coming weeks. Originally handled by Sacramento Presbytery, the synod later took over prosecution of the lawsuit against Fair Oaks.
In exchange for paying the PCUSA $1.1 million plus half its attorney fees from the legal fight over the property, the denomination will drop all claims on the $10.5 million property.
According to a 2008 Layman article, the congregations had agreed to settlements of $250,000 (Fair Oaks) and $160,000 (First Presbyterian Church in Roseville, Calif.), but challenges in ecclesiastical and secular courts derailed the previous agreements.
“We think it is a very good deal,” Fair Oaks pastor the Rev. Kirk Bottomly said in a blog entry. “Of course, nobody likes buying something they already paid for. But if we had to rebuild our facility elsewhere, it would run well over $20 million. … If we are re-purchasing our church, it’s cheaper than 5 (cents) on the dollar.”
Bottomly estimates Fair Oaks’ share of the denomination’s attorney fees to total between $100,000 and $150,000. Payment is due by March 15, 2011, and the 1,000-member congregation already has started raising funds for the settlement.
“We already have $200,000 banked as a start,” Bottomly said in his blog. “Whatever remains to be raised, we’ll have to go out and borrow. But come March 15, we can be sure of this, Fair Oaks Pres will belong to Fair Oaks Pres.”
Fair Oaks, along with sister congregation Roseville, had been approved by the presbytery to leave the PCUSA in early 2008 to join the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC). That vote was challenged by another Sacramento Presbytery congregation. Fair Oaks and Roseville were later awarded their property by a California court, but an appellate court overturned the decision. A 2009 California Supreme Court decision in an Episcopal Church (USA) property case was the basis for the appellate court’s reversal favoring the PCUSA.
An earlier settlement by Roseville, which included payment of $810,000 over 20 years at no interest, but the congregation had to affirm that the church property belongs to the denomination, ended up helping in the negotiations. Though Fair Oaks’ negotiation team was not willing to give up the title to its property, it was able to negotiate a lower payment based on the formula used to determine Roseville’s settlement.
“We suggested a simple and fair formula based on Roseville’s appraised value and settlement figure; that same ratio applied to us yielded $1.1 million,” Bottomly said. “Synod reps pulled out their calculators, confirmed the math, consulted briefly and accepted the deal.”
In explaining the settlement to the congregation, Bottomly offered something for Fair Oaks members to think about regarding what it would cost them for the church.
“What did it cost the Lord Jesus to redeem His church?,” he asked. “Infinitely more. No reasonable accountant would say it was worth it – the blood of the Son of God. But God decided it was. He thinks His church is worth it. Is it worth it to us? Can we say, for a million dollars we will redeem this church and its mission and ministries for the cause of Jesus Christ. I know we can and will.”