Judge makes presbytery
end takeover of account
The Layman, December 31, 2008
The Presbytery of Whitewater Valley violated a temporary restraining order by confiscating a bank account of a congregation in litigation over its property. But a Commonwealth Judge in Preble County, Ohio, last week ordered the presbytery to return control of the bank account to First Presbyterian Church in College Corner.
The congregation, which recently voted to leave the Presbyterian Church (USA) and affiliate with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, needed to regain control of the bank account to pay the staff and other expenses.
During a hearing last week, attorneys for the presbytery claimed they did not realize the temporary restraining order was still in effect.
Hearings on the litigation were delayed for months as church leaders sought to gain dismissal through the presbytery’s process. But they say the presbytery refused to accept numerous offers as conditions for leaving the denomination.
After nearly a year of negotiations, with little progress, the congregation voted to leave the denomination immediately and to reactivate its case against the presbytery.
Following that vote, the presbytery convinced the treasurer of the church – who described herself as a “PCUSA” treasurer and not an EPC treasurer – to get the bank to approve additional signatures, including a presbytery representative, on the account. That temporarily prevented the congregation from using the account.
The judge did not reprimand the presbytery for violating a temporary restraining order and getting new signatures. At any point during the legal proceedings, he can lift the restraining order. Also, if the judge rules in favor of the presbytery at the conclusion of a trial, the presbytery could be awarded all financial accounts as well as church property.
The case is in its early stages. Hearings are expected in March, but no trial date has been set. Besides a possible property settlement, First Presbyterian made a number of offers to underwrite the cost of providing pastoral care to the 9-12 people who did not agree with the decision to leave the PCUSA. It also agreed to make donations to any church that might receive those PCUSA loyalists. But the presbytery has not agreed to any of the proposals.
Less than a dozen of the congregation’s 140 members have registered disagreement with the decision to leave the denomination, according to Forrest Norman, the attorney for the congregation.