Presbytery denied state Supreme Court hearing in Carrollton property dispute
The Layman, February 21, 2012
Case timeline and related articles:
April 2011: Carrollton case has bearing on all former southern PCUS congregations in PCUSA
January 2010: Presbytery appeals decision
December 2009: Carrollton church wins Declaratory Judgment and Permanent Injunction
December 2009: Presbytery forced to release documents
October 2009: Presbytery found in contempt of court
September 2009: Judge orders Presbytery to back off
August 2009: Judge issues “written reasons” favoring Carrollton
September 2008: Presbytery votes to aggressively pursue churches contemplating leaving
A Louisiana church won a decisive victory in its fight to keep its property after the state’s Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from a presbytery attempting to seize church property under a trust clause a lower court had earlier ruled invalid.
On Friday, the Louisiana Supreme Court unanimously issued a writ refusing to hear an appeal by the Presbytery of South Louisiana of an earlier lawsuit filed against it by Carrollton Presbyterian Church.
Carrollton sued South Louisiana in 2008 following the presbytery’s attempt to take the congregation’s property under the auspices of the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s trust clause.
In 2009, the 19th Judicial District Court of Louisiana issued a declaratory judgment in favor of Carrollton and a permanent injunction barring South Louisiana from attempting to seize any of the church’s property.
The order also barred higher governing bodies of the PCUSA from doing anything that might attempt to remove control from Carrollton’s leaders with respect to property rights and from interfering with the normal duties of church officers, ministers and employees.
The decision may have far-reaching repercussions for other churches facing similar property battles that joined the PCUSA following the 1983 merger that created the denomination.
Organized in 1855, Carrollton belonged to the Presbyterian Church (US), the Southern stream of the Presbyterian Church that merged with the Northern stream in 1983.
At the time of the merger, Northern stream churches lived under a constitution that required them to obtain presbytery permission before buying, selling or otherwise encumbering their property. PCUS churches had no such constitutional requirement.
One of the conditions placed on the merger agreement was that former PCUS churches would be allowed a window of eight years within which to declare an exemption, opting out of the requirement that they obtain presbytery permission before disposing of their property.
Since Carrollton was among those churches, the Louisiana court decision could set a precedent for all such churches.
Legal observers have noted that the tiny congregation’s victory may go down as a landmark decision in church-property law.
The decision states that the PCUSA trust clause is not enforceable unless it complies with state trust law requirements and that any former PCUS churches that had claimed the exception clause in a timely manner has also negated the trust clause.
“It must clearly appear that the creation of a trust is intended,” the court stated in the original circuit decision. “A trustee must be either a natural person with capacity to contract or a bank or trust company organized under Louisiana federal law and domiciled in Louisiana.”
Despite rising, six-figure legal costs, the presbytery appealed the circuit court’s decision in 2010.
In September 2011, the First Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s decision, stating “the public records relating to the subject property reflect that the property is owned by Carrollton. There is no mention of the property being held in trust in the deeds themselves.”
The dispute began after Carrollton, a 20-member church, attempted to sell its property to a local Christian school since the building was deemed too large and costly to maintain for such a small congregation. The agreement would have allowed Carrollton to continue to use the sanctuary for worship services.
Claiming Carrollton was attempting to dissolve and divest its property – despite no evidence on file – South Louisiana moved to block the sale, forcing Carrollton to eventually file suit.
Along the way, South Louisiana suffered several legal setbacks. According to previous articles in The Layman, the presbytery was “found in contempt of court, failed in its Louisiana Supreme Court bid to keep its communications with synod and General Assembly lawyers under wraps, and [faced] sanctions charges.”
The writ of denial released last week is not the same as an affirmation. The court simply refused to accept the case without comment and allowed the appeals court decision to stand without ruling on the merits of the decision.
The state Supreme Court writ won’t be final until all further appeal attempts have been exhausted. The presbytery may also appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court within 90 days of the decision.