McClatchy Newspapers
February 22, 2008
SACRAMENTO, Calif. --For 55 years, members of Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church have tithed their 10 percent, money that often went toward maintaining 12 acres of tree-lined church property.
Now they've been told that the church building and grounds where generations have worshipped does not belong to them -- but rather to the national denomination with which they want to cut ties because they believe it has lost its biblical authority.
"What about the blood, sweat and tears of the congregation -- all of us who have given all these years?" said Jane Constance, a member since 1982 whose four children were baptized and raised in the church. "It's unthinkable to me, to most of us, that it could belong to them because of a clause most of us didn't know about."
Fair Oaks Presbyterian and other churches splitting from their denominational bodies over theological differences are now set to battle in court over a more worldly issue -- real estate.
Presbyterians and Episcopalians, from Virginia to California, are fighting over who gets church property when congregations break away. Millions of dollars are at stake in arguments that have moved from the church sanctuaries to the courts and have pitted pastors against one another.
"It's like a complicated divorce," said the Rev. Henry Wells of Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church. "It's heartbreaking and ugly."
Wells' congregation and First Presbyterian Church of Roseville, the two largest Presbyterian churches in the region, want to defect from the national church.
Wells said they disagree with the denomination on everything from the ordination of gays, to what to call the Holy Trinity and other basic tenets of the Christian faith. Last year, his church voted to join a more conservative group.
They've been told they can go -- but the church property stays with the denomination.
The two churches are suing the Sacramento Presbytery, the local governing body of the national Presbyterian Church (USA).
The lawsuit, the first of its kind in the Sacramento area, is similar to litigation involving breakaway Presbyterian and Episcopalian churches across the country.
In both faiths, churches that want to go their own way say their buildings were bought and paid for by local congregants and belong to church members. Denominational leaders say the churches are held "in trust" for the national group, according to clauses in the churches' constitutions.
Earlier this month, the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California -- based in Sacramento -- filed a lawsuit against the leaders of St. John's Anglican Church in Petaluma, formerly called St. John's Episcopal Church.
Diocesan officials say the group took over church property in 2006. They seek the return of church buildings that have been occupied by congregation leaders who filed change-of-ownership papers with the secretary of state and then aligned with the more conservative Anglican Church.
"This is a last resort," said the Right Rev. Barry Beisner, bishop of the diocese, who added that they have tried to negotiate with the group. "We are simply seeking the return of property which has been held in trust for the mission of the Episcopal Church."
Officials with St. John's Anglican Church responded with a statement. "The issue of real estate ownership is a matter of civil law by those who own, have title to and maintain their property. It is doubtful that California judges would accede to a bishop's ruling on matters involving real estate and corporate law."
About two dozen of 7,700 Episcopal churches are involved in litigation over property, according to church officials.
The Diocese of San Joaquin in Fresno, which became the first diocese in the church's history to break away from the national church, "has not taken legal action regarding church property at this point," said Neva Rae Fox, spokeswoman for the Episcopal Church.
Seceding churches are challenging the validity of the denominational trust clauses.
"My understanding is that the courts have gone both ways," said Raymond Coletta, who teaches property, trust and wills at McGeorge School of Law. "The courts have leaned heavily on the exact agreements between the congregation and overall church."
The California Supreme Court is expected to rule within the year on a case involving Episcopal churches in the Los Angeles area, according to Bob Johnson, attorney for the Sacramento Presbytery.
He said the trust clause was approved by the denomination in 1981 and again in 1983. Both churches had the opportunity to leave the denomination before it was adopted. "It's pretty clear that the properties are held in trust to benefit the entire denomination."
Larry Cheatham said ownership is clear to him. "We've had building campaigns, fundraisers," said Cheatham, a 20-year-member of Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church who has tithed regularly. "It belongs to the people who contributed to the buildings' upkeep over the years."
The church is a longtime member of the Presbyterian Church (USA), but local congregants have complained about what they consider to be the liberal direction of the national denomination, said Wells. Last year, the congregation voted to break with the denomination and align with the conservative Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
The two churches and the Presbytery had negotiated an agreement to leave, with each church agreeing to give a gift to the local Presbytery. Fair Oaks would donate $250,000 and Roseville $160,000.
But that agreement was challenged. "Why should our denomination hand this over to another denomination?" asked the Rev. David Thompson, pastor of Westminster Church in Sacramento.
A Sept. 2 trial date is set in Placer Superior Court.
The controversy in the Episcopal Diocese is also bitter.
At the center of the dispute is what is now called St. John's Anglican Church in Petaluma. Formerly St. John's Episcopal Church, it had been a part of the Episcopal Diocese for more than 150 years.
Leaders of the church had often disagreed with the national denomination over theological issues and opposed the ordination of Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop, according to the Rev. James Richardson, media adviser to Bishop Beisner.
Still, diocesan leaders say they were stunned to learn the church leaders had decided to leave the Episcopal church to join the Anglican church and took over the property.
"It's a great tragedy that it has come to this," said Beisner of the legal action against former congregants. "But they took the first steps into bringing this into the legal system by filing for a name change."
The fights over church property have taken a toll on longtime members.
"The whole process has already gone on too long," said Cheatham of Fair Oaks Presbyterian. "I think everybody just wants a resolution."
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