Church Property Concerns

by Peggy Hedden

 

Let me preface my remarks by saying that the following are my views, and not those of any boards on which I serve.

 

  1. The New Reality in the PC(USA), post-217th General Assembly

Because of the actions of the 217th General Assembly in receiving the Trinity Paper and in adopting the PUP Report,  the posture of renewal groups has changed.  Before the Assembly, renewal groups had been on top of the hill trying to keep boulder from being pushed down; now, the groups are at the bottom of the hill trying to roll the boulder back up.  And all the while, flaming darts are being fired at us.

 

  1. Because we are engaged in spiritual warfare. 

I urge you to reread Ephesians 6:10-20.

In that passage, God tells us:

 

    1.  Who the enemy is.  The battle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual powers and wickedness in high places.  And

b.   What the battle is about.  Satan fights to keep God’s people from:

                                                        i.      Proclaiming the Gospel—who God is, Father, Son and Holy Spirit; the Way of salvation in Jesus; the Truth of God’s Word; and the Life of holy living as a disciple of Christ, and

                                                       ii.      Living the Gospel; and

 

  1. What kinds of responses to 217 GA can a congregation make?
    1. It may keep its head down and disengage in place, tending only to local affairs, by not proclaiming the whole gospel or muting the range and volume of its proclamation.
    2. It may dissent by overturing the presbytery on ordination standards, working with other congregations.
    3. It may dissent by redirecting GA per capita and/or mission giving.   (At least some of the funds that the Stated Clerk has to pursue property cases comes from per capita contributions.)
    4. It may move from dissent to withdrawing from denomination.

 

If a congregation chooses any response other than keeping its head down, the congregation is a prime candidate in many presbyteries for being targeted for reprisals.  Even if a congregation is in a “good” presbytery, there will be pressure from Louisville on the presbytery to coerce the congregation; indeed the synod may take over a presbytery which is charitable. 

 

    4.   Evidence of Coercion Towards Dissent by Evangelical Congregations

 

Actions and statements by the Stated Clerk, the ACC, COGA, and the GAPJC in the last 6 years lead me to believe that dissenting congregations will be targeted:

 

·         New Year’s 2002 letter from the Stated Clerk to lower governing bodies in which he says that those who advocate gracious separation or the withholding of per capita violate their ordination vows and says that such advocacy is unconstitutional. His 2004 Advisory Opinion Note 9 reiterates that “the Book of Order provides no right for sessions to withhold per capita as a form of protest.”

·         The 2004 action of Western North Carolina not to validate Parker Williamson’s ministry because of the Lay Committee’s statement that they do not think the General Assembly per capita budget worthy of support.  The GAPJC ruled that the presbytery was NOT in error in making that finding; 10 GAPJC members wrote a special concurring opinion on the point.

·         The Stated Clerk’s involvement in the just-settled Serone Church dispute over property, in which the individual elders were sued for punitive damages.  Suing elders is a very, very, very low tactic in any litigation, let alone in disputes between Christians.

·         The 2005 instance of Hollywood Presbyterian Church, which, according to the best information, was retribution for Hollywood having given leadership in the fight against the ordination of practicing homosexuals.

·         The 2006 Harrisonburg, NC, case in which the congregation was told by the presbytery that it had to change its corporate charter to give its property to the presbytery. That effort was successfully resisted by the congregation.

·         The current situation in Eastern Oklahoma Presbytery—the presbytery filed liens on the property of all its 66 churches.

·         Several cases in which small congregations with large endowments have been dissolved to provide funds for dying presbyteries.

·         The 45 pages of “legal strategy” from the Stated Clerk and the Legal Office to presbyteries disclosed last week by  Layman Online on August 8, 2006.   The first set of papers deals with property disputes in the civil courts; the second sets out administrative weapons to try to squelch congregations considering or seeking to withdraw.

I want to make three general observations about these papers: 

1.  They are not a comprehensive manual on how to care for a congregation at a crossroads.  There are no Scriptural passages exegeted, there are no pastoral concerns expressed, and there is no theological recognition of any legitimate issues of conscience.

2.  The tone of the papers is “Take no prisoners.”  They do not mention or explore measures for reconciliation.  They express only intimidation and coercion.

3.  There has been no similar marshalling of legal advice and strategy from the Stated Clerk and Louisville in the past 10 years of, not DISSENT, but of outright DISOBEDIENCE of constitutional ordination standards.

The underlying premises of these papers are that

no congregation may leave the denomination and that all local property belongs to the presbytery and denomination because Chapter VIII of the Constitution makes such an assertion.  The papers automatically define a congregation as “schismatic” if it wants to be dismissed by its presbytery, even though such dismissal is permissible under G-11.0103i and advise the appointment of an administrative commission to squelch such discussion.  This is the same illogic in the Jan., 2002, letter—it is forbidden to discuss an act permitted under the constitution. The papers advocating severe measures toward pastors, sessions, and congregations. 

            These papers were prepared in September and December, 2005, and used in the January, 2006, workshop that the OGA gave for presbytery attorneys.  In view of the timing and use, the papers should be considered a companion to the PUP Report if the “season of discernment” becomes a season of dissent.

·         Advisory Opinions:  Note 19, just recently released by the Stated Clerk.  The Opinion asserts that a church has no right to unilaterally leave the denomination and that presbyteries are significantly restricted in deciding to release a congregation.  The Opinion states that if a presbytery fails to enforce the Chapter VIII trust clause that the synod may assume jurisdiction over the presbytery.

 

THEREFORE, WHETHER A CONGREGATION IS STAYING OR LEAVING, IT MUST BE PREPARED TO FIGHT ASSAULTS FROM ADMINISTRATIVE OR CIVIL COURT STRATEGIES.

 

  1.   How Congregations Can Arm for the Warfare

 

    1. Ephesians 6:10-20 details the armor which God has given us in the work that he has done in Christ.  The congregation needs to be prepared theologically for the battle—shielded by faith, secure in salvation, equipped to proclaim the gospel, versed in truth, and ready to use God’s Word.
    2. Keep informed--what happened at GA, what is happening across the denomination—Presbyweb and Layman
    3. Counting the costs—understanding its responsibility to steward gifts for Christ’s service; the financial, emotional, and spiritual costs of fighting; and similar costs of not fighting.  See A Guide to Church Property Law published by the Presbyterian Lay Committee for discussion of important Biblical issues regarding property and disputes between Christians. 
    4. Prayer—before, during—for the proclamation of the Gospel (Eph. 6) and BOLDNESS in proclaiming it (Acts 4:1-33).  In Acts 4, Peter and John were arrested by the religious authorities and told to shut up in preaching about Jesus Christ and threatened.  The two went back to the rest of the disciples.  The whole group prayed—not for God to protect them or for God to wipe out their opponents, but for boldness in proclaiming the Gospel!
    5. Strategic thinking—consult an attorney, work with other congregations

                                                              i.      Protect the pastor—have elders and session lead

Understand pension rights—see the information about pensions on at the Layman Online (www.layman.org)

                                                             ii.      Protect the real property, protect endowments, protect liquid assets

1.      Understand that INDIVIDUAL CONGREGATIONS DO OWN THEIR PROPERTY in 95% of the cases; the Chapter VIII trust clause did not transfer property to the presbyteries.  The legal issues are whether a presbytery can enforce the trust clause in civil courts or declare a dissenting minority to be the “true church.”  These are not slam dunk wins for the presbyteries.

2.      It is not too late to fortify evidence of congregational ownership--documents can be amended in most situations.

3.      The best resources for big picture is  A Guide to Church Property Law published by the Presbyterian Lay Committee and being aware of the strategies which Louisville is using discussed in part 4.

 

                                                           iii.      Buy Directors and Officers Insurance for pastor and   officers—Serone case

 

                                                          iv.      Protect against administrative commission—consult with an attorney;  prepare session members and congregation how to deal with the threat

 

 

v.      Get help from attorney group—see the Church Property Issue Proposal by Robert Browne attached—and other churches.  This body could decide to establish such a group.  Tablets are being passed around for attorneys, pastors, and others who would like to help resource churches looking into property concerns.

 

vi. Endorse the call for a moratorium on administrative commissions and    legal actions by presbyteries while congregations discuss and discern faithful steps which was passed by the New Wineskins Convocation on July 22, 2006.  This body could vote to support this call.

 

  1. Proceed with confidence.

       Jesus instructed us in Matthew 24 how to live in these latter days:

              Don’t be deceived,

Don’t be afraid, and

Be doing the work the Master has given us

 

“These things I have spoken unto you that in me ye might have peace.  In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”   (John 16:33)

 

Address by Peggy Hedden, Elder at Mifflin Presbyterian Church, Columbus, OH, and Chief Executive Officer of the Presbyterian Lay Committee,  Aug. 17, 2006, Presbyterian Coalition Post-General Assembly Meeting, Atlanta, GA