40 years ago — August 20, 1979
The Presbyterian Church in the United States and the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America held to the understanding that all property is held in trust to the denomination — but it did not clearly state so in its documents. The U.S. Supreme Court shocked the churches with its July 2 ruling. The case involved a Presbyterian church in Georgia. The presbytery determined the minority within the congregation represented the church. The Georgia courts applied the “neutral rule.” In the absence of clearly stated local or denominational documents, the courts could determine possession based on secular criteria. Hence the majority of the congregation were awarded the property. The Supreme Court’s decision overturned the long-standing 1872 decision that “recognized the unity of the Presbyterian polity with its hierarchy of judicatories — sessions, presbyteries, synods and the General Assembly.” The federal court returned the case to the state courts “for further proceedings.” The UPCUSA explored the possibility of calling a special meeting of the General Assembly to clearly state in documents the connectionism of the church. The PCUS decided to wait until the final outcome of the court proceedings.
From the news brief, “UPCUSA considers special meeting of General Assembly to act on church property issue raised by supreme court decision”
