Hope carries on:
Oregon church decides to take
property battle to state Supreme Court
By Jason P. Reagan, The Layman, June 1, 2011
Despite a devastating blow to its property rights by an appeals court, an Oregon church plans to continue to fight a legal battle they say may set precedent for other churches.
A month after the Oregon Court of Appeals granted title of Hope Presbyterian Church’s 52-year-old building to the Presbyterian Church (USA), the church’s pastor says the Rogue River congregation will appeal to the state Supreme Court.
“[Our attorney] felt that we had a good chance of having our case reviewed by the Oregon State Supreme Court, since the issues at stake haven’t been formally addressed by Oregon and they impact a good number of people across the state,” senior pastor Brian Boisen said, adding that the session voted unanimously to petition the court to review the case.
The state appeals court overturned a lower court decision on April 27 which would have granted ownership of the building to Hope following its split with the PCUSA. As of 2007, the property was valued at $1.2 million.
In its decision, the three-member court stated the 110-year-old church implicitly acknowledged that the denomination held the property in trust when the congregation changed its bylaws to recognize the PCUSA constitution, although the bylaws were never filed with the state.
Hope’s session claimed that the church has been clearly documented as being the owner and giving up their claim could harm other churches as well.
“In the course of that last [session] meeting, what was emphasized the most was the impact that our case would have on all the other congregations considering leaving the PCUSA,” Boisen said. He added the church considered the appeals process a spiritual fight as well as legal, making the decision worth the financial hardship. The appeals process will cost an estimated $10,000 and the church has already spent $18,000.
“Our attorney has been working with us at a reduced rate, and he is willing to continue supporting us at that rate all the way through,” Boisen said.
Hope Presbyterian Church sought dismissal from the PCUSA in 2007, citing the denomination’s unbiblical stand on issues of chastity and fidelity in ordination standards. The church later joined the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC).
Boisen said the church hoped the appeal will strengthen the resolve of congregations facing similar circumstances.
“Members of session recognized that this case involves legal and financial issues, but it also represents issues of justice and the integrity of our witness to Jesus Christ – and that those issues are very much on the hearts of congregations within the PCUSA,” he said, adding “if we left things as is, with the PCUSA having the Court of Appeals’ decision as precedent, those congregations would really be at their mercy.”
Although the lower-court judge initially ruled the dispute should be resolved using neutral principles of law – “based entirely upon legal documents such as deeds and any trust documents that have been appropriately executed according to Oregon law,” – the appeals court ruled based on the hierarchical-deference doctrine in which church property disputes are adjudicated using denominational decisions or precedents.
The appeals court claimed that hierarchical-deference principle must be used based on a precedent set by the Oregon Supreme Court, despite the fact that Hope argued the PCUSA is not hierarchical but uses a representative governance model.
As for the future, Hope’s attorney will submit a Petition for Review to the state Supreme Court within the next two months and the court will consider whether or not it wishes to review the case.
The elders expect to hear back from the court by September or October and the appeals process may take up to a year if accepted by the court.
Boisen said that, while Hope Presbyterian is resolved to carry forth the case, the session is concerned about future financial expenses.
“So far we’ve been able to carry this legal battle forward through special contributions made by members of the congregation,” he said. “But now, like many other churches, we are being stretched just to meet our basic operating expenses –supporting the budget by deficit spending out of our savings,” he added.
“When we committed to continue ‘fighting the good fight we did it as a step of faith, trusting that our Lord would provide,” he said.