Two churches sue to be declared owners of their properties
By Patrick Jean, The Layman Online, August 31, 2007
Two churches are suing the Presbytery of South Louisiana for judgments that they, and not the presbytery or the Presbyterian Church (USA), are the owners of their properties.
Woodland Presbyterian Church in New Orleans sought a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction and declaratory judgment May 21, while First Presbyterian Church in Thibodaux sought only a declaratory judgment Aug. 1. The lawsuits were filed in the 19th District Judicial Court in East Baton Rouge Parish.
Woodland Church was granted a temporary restraining order May 22, followed by a stipulated preliminary injunction nine days later. No hearing dates have been set for the declaratory judgment petitions.
Pastors of the churches say they hope the matter will be resolved then. They want the presbytery to enter into a stipulated final judgment, similar to the one it reached in November 2006 with First Presbyterian Church of Baton Rouge, in which the presbytery declared that church owned its property.
The presbytery council reportedly will discuss the lawsuits at its meeting Sept. 11 and could make a recommendation for presbytery commissioners to address at their stated meeting Oct. 13. This information could not be confirmed with the presbytery’s general presbyter, the Rev. Dr. Alan Cutter, because he said the presbytery does not comment on pending litigation.
“We chose not to encourage any media frenzy as we have seen in other instances. Our counsel has been instructed not to talk with the media,” Cutter said in an e-mail to The Layman Online. “Thus far, we have made no filings. If and when that occurs, I will notify you and you can make arrangements to get the papers from the appropriate courts.”
‘Unholy conspiracy’
Cutter’s e-mail also contained some pointed remarks about media coverage of the lawsuits. “I am saddened that The Layman, through its publications and its relationship with various attorneys, has entered into an unholy, albeit unintentional conspiracy with the Office of the General Assembly and its legal counsel to elevate issues concerning property over issues concerning ordination standards, the sanctity of ordination vows and real issues of theological import,” he said.
“Here in South Louisiana, in spite of pressure from various sources, we are attempting to keep property issues in a proper perspective and focus on doing Christ’s work of mission and transformation,” Cutter said. “This is the faith story which we will continue to live and tell. The Layman would better serve Christ by telling this story. If it so chooses to do, I would expect to see you here in Louisiana.”
Lloyd Lunceford, a Baton Rouge attorney who is representing the Woodland and Thibodaux churches, took issue with Cutter’s comments. (Lunceford served from 1995-2002 on the board of the directors of the Presbyterian Lay Committee, which publishes The Layman.)
“I share Dr. Cutter’s belief that the tie that should bind is our union in Christ, not bricks and mortar,” he said in an e-mail to The Layman Online. “I also share his commitment that the forum for amicably resolving property concerns is the presbytery and the civil court. Like him, I have encouraged my clients to refrain from trying their cases in the press. And like Dr. Cutter, I, too, live here in south Louisiana, where the ministry in the wake of Hurricane Katrina is real and transforming.
“I am a little surprised, though, that he would suggest that The Layman is in cahoots with Louisville to elevate property issues over other theological issues. Only Louisville has asserted the view that an enforceable trust over local property is essential to Presbyterianism. The Layman has challenged that view, not championed it.
“Hurricane Katrina destroyed or severely damaged 20 percent of the PCUSA churches in south Louisiana, and because of actions in Louisville a number of the surviving churches down here are seeking clarity on the status of their property ownership,” Lunceford said. “So, Dr. Cutter has a lot on his plate. He is trying to address problems neither he nor The Layman created. His frustration is understandable. I would be frustrated, too. So perhaps he can be forgiven if he unfairly painted with too broad a brush.”
Why churches filed suits
The “current climate” in the PCUSA factored into Woodland Church’s decision to file suit, said the Rev. Dr. Scott Luckey, co-pastor of the 290-member church for the past 17 months.
“There is some concern about the spiritual climate of our denomination,” he said. “It has created some angst.”
The Baton Rouge lawsuit settlement also was a factor, since that church is considered a flagship among churches in the presbytery, he said.
The issue has been “percolating” over the past year among active ordained and non-ordained members of the church, Luckey said. These lay members brought their concerns to the church’s session members and trustees, who moved forward with the litigation, he said.
The Thibodaux church’s pastor of 6½ years, the Rev. Bill Crawford, posted a letter on the 90-member church’s Web site the same day explaining why the action was taken.
“It is not an act of disaffiliation with the PCUSA,” he wrote. “It is not an ecclesiastical action. Rather, it is a legal action related to our property rights.”
Crawford’s letter goes on to explain the property situation:
“The session of our congregation has been looking at developing our property, and securing our resources for the future ministry and growth of this congregation. The task is complicated by outside issues that deeply affect the stability of stewardship within our congregation, particularly so in these days of denominational turmoil.
“As First Presbyterian finds itself in acute disagreement with recent denominational actions, the denomination’s claim that all property is held in trust for the PCUSA has become even more problematic. Succinctly, members have promised to cease giving to our congregation and supporting our ministry if we do not take action regarding the issue of ownership.”
Others have not become church members because of the church’s membership in the PCUSA, Crawford said in a phone interview. “The ministry of the church is being affected by this clouded title, where we don’t have a clear sense of identity as a local congregation,” he said. “So, that’s the precipitating cause” for going to court.
The Woodland church also expresses concerns about property development in a memorandum in support of its petition for a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction and declaratory judgment.
“Efforts to promote an effective, local capital fund drive for local church improvements, and the ability to obtain any necessary bank financing for capital improvements, including the granting of mortgages and security interests which may be required, will be stymied in the absence of the injunctive and declaratory relief petitioner seeks,” the memo states.
Staying in, targeting PCUSA
While the Thibodaux church’s lawsuit is not part of an effort to leave the PCUSA, Crawford said, “It’s disingenuous to say that we’re not aware of that issue. We have just recently begun to establish a denominational relations committee to look at that issue.”
In fact, Crawford said, it was Cutter who recommended at the last presbytery meeting that churches take that step.
Luckey said Woodland Church also is not leaving the PCUSA. “That hasn’t even been discussed by our session,” he said.
The Thibodaux church held a town hall-style meeting Aug. 4 to discuss the lawsuit’s filing. Crawford said attendance was low, with no dissent expressed and the majority of questions dealing with the church’s title to its property.
“We’re a hundred and 60 years in, and we’re just really beginning five or six years ago to understand that this [PCUSA] trust clause is really a cloud on the title to church property,” he said.
While the Presbytery of South Louisiana is the defendant, it shouldn’t be seen as the target of the litigation, said Crawford, who is a member of the presbytery’s committee on ministry and has served the presbytery in other capacities.
“We’re not outsiders,” he said. “We are very much a part of the life of this presbytery, and I think that is one of the most important and telling facts of this. We can’t be labeled as extremists because we’re right in the middle of everything.
“You’re talking about a congregation that has survived five Presbyterian denominations. … The last 24 years is a very short piece of our history,” Crawford said. “To have our title suddenly come under cloud in a very short period of time is a concern, as it would be for any American who owns property.”
Declaratory judgments sought
In addition to the temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction that already were granted, Woodland Church’s lawsuit seeks a declaratory judgment stating that:
- 1. “All property held by or titled in the name of the petitioner, and any improvements thereon, whether corporeal or incorporeal, movable or immovable, or real or personal, is held without trust for the use and benefit of the PCUSA or other national denomination, or any of its regional administrative units such as the Presbytery of South Louisiana.
- 2. “The petitioner holds all property titled in its name, and all improvements thereon, in full and complete ownership pursuant to the laws of the state of Louisiana and as set forth in petitioner’s articles of incorporation.
- 3. “Neither the PCUSA, nor any of its regional administrative units such as the Presbytery of South Louisiana, has any right, title or interest in said property nor right to determine the ownership thereof.”
The Thibodaux church’s lawsuit does not seek a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction. Crawford said his church didn’t want to be seen as putting pressure on the presbytery to answer or resolve the lawsuit.
“We’re just really holding to that Scriptural verse in Matthew that says, ‘Settle with your brother on the way to court,’ ” he said. “I have no personal intention of seeing this thing in court.”
The lawsuit filed by Crawford’s church seeks a declaratory judgment stating that:
- 1. “All property held by or for First Presbyterian Church of Thibodaux, and any improvements thereon, whether real or personal, corporeal or incorporeal, movable or immovable, is held without any trust in favor of a national denomination or any of its regional administrative units, such as the PSL.
- 2. “All property held by or titled in the name of the local church corporation is held by it in full and exclusive ownership.”
- 3. “Neither the PCUSA nor the PSL has any right, title or interest in said property, nor right to determine the ownership or disposition thereof.”
Making their cases
Both lawsuits make similar arguments for why the court should find for the plaintiff. Each suit contends that three clauses of the PCUSA Book of Order are not applicable to the petitioner’s property and not legally enforceable under Louisiana’s laws or constitution:
- G-8.0201, the property trust clause which states that, “All property held by or for a particular church … is held in trust nevertheless for the use and benefit of the Presbyterian Church (USA).”
- G-8.0600, which asserts that a PCUSA presbytery may dictate ownership of local church property located within the geographic bounds of the presbytery.
- G-8.0301, which states that a local church’s property shall be “held, used, applied, transferred or sold as provided by the presbytery” when that church ceases to be in the PCUSA denomination.
Each church contends that it exercised an exemption clause (G-8.0700) that excuses a church from all provisions of Chapter VIII of the Book of Order. The presbytery received and approved the minutes of meetings where the exemption clause was exercised, each church states.
Both churches say they approved new articles of incorporation this year that contain no language about a trust, either express or implied, over their properties in favor of the PCUSA. The same goes for previous articles of incorporation, they contend.
The Woodland church’s lawsuit states that according to clause G-1.0301(b) of the Book of Order, the provisions of the denomination’s constitution are not to be enforced through a state’s courts. “Thus, while this court has subject matter jurisdiction to resolve the property dispute before it, it cannot do so by applying the PCUSA Book of Order property provisions, as such would constitute an unlawful church establishment prohibited by both the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and by the PCUSA’s own constitution,” the church argues.
Memos make more arguments
Each church also filed a memorandum in support of its petition that establishes the legal precedent for finding for the plaintiff.
Each memo points out that the Louisiana Supreme Court adopted the application of neutral principles of contract and property law to settle church property disputes in a 1982 ruling, Fluker Community Church v. Hitchens.
Each memo also cites two property cases that the PCUSA lost:
- Presbytery of Beaver-Butler of the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America v. Middlesex Presbyterian Church, a 1985 ruling by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
- Presbytery of Hudson Valley v. First Presbyterian Church of Ridgebury, a 2006 ruling by the New York Supreme Court.
Each memo points out rulings that favored the local church over the denomination in property cases in other states:
- California-Nevada Annua