Hilton Head Congregation Sues PCUSA Over Title To Church Property

Providence Presbyterian Church on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina filed suit in state court last Friday against the Presbyterian Church USA's regional presbytery to assure that Providence, rather that PCUSA, owns church property that the congregation plans to develop further. Island Packet reports on the lawsuit which is unusual because Providence has not at this point broken away from its parent church. However disaffiliation is under discussion. Members are unhappy with a number of policies of PCUSA. Providence's attorney says that Providence's name is on the deed for church land which it purchased from the Charleston Atlantic Presbytery for the nominal sum of $15. Jimmy Stuckey, an attorney for the Charleston presbytery, says PCUSA doctrine holds that church properties belong to the parent denomination, not the local congregation.