Suit Challenges Wisconsin Tax Exemption as Violation of State Constitution's Ban on Preference to Religious Establishments

Suit was filed last week in a Wisconsin state trial court by the Freedom from Religion Foundation and three individual property owners challenging a Wisconsin property tax exemption tailored to only benefit two apartment buildings serving students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The buildings are owned by the Presbyterian Student Center Foundation and by a Catholic parish. The complaint (full text) in Gaylor v. City of Madison, (WI Cir. Ct., filed 1/14/2025), alleges that the exemption violates the equal protection and uniformity clauses of the Wisconsin state constitution, the state constitution's provision on private bills and the prohibition in Article I, section 18 of the Wisconsin Constitution which prohibits legislation that gives a preference to any religious establishment or mode of worship. Christian Post reports on the lawsuit.

Certiorari Denied In Virginia Ministerial Residence Tax Exemption Dispute

The U.S. Supreme Court today denied review in Trustees of New Life In Christ Church v. City of Fredericksburg, Virginia,  (certiorari  denied, 1/18/2022), over the dissenting opinion of Justice Gorsuch. In the case, a Virginia state court denied the state's "ministerial residence" tax exemption to a local Presbyterian church because the Youth Ministers living in the home at issue were not ordained clergy and were not listed by the church as one of its primary pastors. (See prior related posting.) The city claimed that this meant they did not qualify as "ministers" under the Presbyterian Church's Book of Church Order, despite the local church's insistence that they do qualify.  Justice Gorsuch, in his opinion dissenting from the denial of certiorari, said in part:

[T]he City continues to insist that a church’s religious rules are “subject to verification” by government officials....

I would grant the petition and summarily reverse. The First Amendment does not permit bureaucrats or judges to “subject” religious beliefs “to verification.”...

This case may be a small one, and one can hope that the error here is so obvious it is unlikely to be repeated anytime soon. But I would correct it....

Courthouse News Service reports on the case.

Court Defers To Decisions of Parent Body In Dispute With Break-Away Presbyterian Congregation

In Presbytery of Seattle v. Schulz, (WA App., Oct. 7, 2019), a Washington state appellate court upheld a trial court's deference to decisions of the Administrative Commission set up by the Presbyterian Church USA's representative in connection with disputes regarding a break-away congregation.  Finding that the Presbyterian church is a hierarchical church, the court concluded that the trial court correctly deferred to the decisions of the Administrative Commission that the disaffiliation of the First Presbyterian Church of Seattle was invalid, any interest it had in church property was held in trust for the benefit of Presbyterian Church USA, and the church's severance agreements with its pastors were invalid.  The court rejected the argument by the local church that the national body no longer had ecclesiastical jurisdiction over it once it disaffiliated, so determinations after that date by the Administrative Commission should not binding.

Court Not Barred From Adjudicating Church Merger

In Pure Presbyterian Church of Washington v. Grace of God Presbyterian Church, (VA Sup. Ct., Aug. 16, 2018), the Virginia Supreme Court affirmed a trial court's judgment enforcing a merger agreement between two local Korean speaking Presbyterian churches. Seven months after the congregations had been worshiping together, one of the congregations attempted to withdraw from the merger. The other congregation sued to validate the merger. The Supreme Court rejected the argument that it lacked jurisdiction under the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine, saying in part:

There is nothing inherently ecclesiastical about an agreement to merge two entities.  Although a dispute over the existence or effect of a merger agreement could turn on questions of church doctrine, that is not the case here. Contract law principles are “neutral principles” of law that courts can employ to resolve a dispute between churches. Whether a church voted to merge is a question of fact that does not require a court to resolve an “ecclesiastical” question. Although the merger agreement spelled out who would continue to serve as pastor and which entity would survive, neither of the parties, nor the court, relied on any theological or ecclesiastical principles to resolve the issue of whether the churches agreed to merge and whether Grace Presbyterian honored its commitment under the merger agreement.

Oklahoma Supreme Court Reverses Itself In Suit By Muslim Convert To Christianity

In Doe v. First Presbyterian Church U.S.A. of Tulsa, (OK Sup. Ct., Dec. 19, 2017), the Oklahoma Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, withdrew its Feb. 2017 decision (see prior posting) dismissing on church autonomy grounds a suit challenging a church's publicizing of plaintiff's baptism, and replaced it with a majority opinion reversing the trial court's dismissal of the suit for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. At issue are tort and breach of contract claims against a Presbyterian congregation.  Plaintiff is a Syrian, Muslim refugee who became interested in converting to Christianity and agreed to be baptized only after it was agreed that his conversion would be kept private.  However Presbyterian Church doctrine requires that information about those baptized be made public.  The fact of plaintiff's baptism was published on the Internet, leading to plaintiff's kidnapping and torture by Islamic extremists when he returned to Syria for a visit. The majority held:

All parties agree Doe simply asked for baptism, but never to become a member subject to the Appellees' ecclesiastical hierarchy. Without this consent, Doe's religious freedom to not subject himself to the Appellees' judicature must be respected and honored under the longstanding and clear constitutional decisions from our Court and the Supreme Court of the United States. What Doe consented to and what the FPC communicated to Doe must be determined as a foundational inquiry regarding Doe's claims.

It was error for the district court to conclude that it had no subject matter jurisdiction to hear Doe's claims on the basis of ecclesiastical jurisdiction. The record below is replete with contested issues of fact which must be resolved by the trier of fact in an adversarial hearing below. This matter is hereby remanded back to the trial court for proceedings consistent with this decision.

Chief Justice Combs dissenting opinion argued that the majority wrongly conflated the church autonomy and ministerial exception doctrines in holding that the church autonomy defense is not jurisdictional. He went on to argue that plaintiff's non-membership in the church does not preclude application of the church autonomy doctrine. News OK reports on the decision. [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]

PCUSA's Trust Clause Keeps Property of Breakaway Church For National Body

In Lehigh Presbytery v. First Presbyterian Church of  Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, (PA Com Pl., Dec. 12, 2017), a Pennsylvania trial court in a 43-page opinion held that the property of a break-away congregation belongs to the Presbyterian Church (USA) because of the trust clause in the PCUSA's Book of Order.  The court concluded its opinion as follows:

Since its inception, the congregational generations of FPCB have consistently expressed allegiance, fidelity, and adherence to the national denomination now known as PCUSA.  However, rather than leaving the Church to join a different religious denomination, the majority of the congregants wish to evict the national denomination from the church; thereby repudiating the intent of those who founded FPCB and extinguishing the sacrifices, contribution, and hard work of many prior generations of congregants who built FPCB with the expectation that FPCB would remain affiliated with the national denomination of Presbyterian Churches (USA).  Thus, although we have resolved this issue under neutral principles of law, we were also struck that to do otherwise, we would ignore the express intention of those who built this congregation with the expectation that those founding principles should forever direct its mission.

The Morning Call reports on the decision.

Defamation Suit Dismissed Under Ecclesiastical Abstention Doctrine

In Dermody v. Presbyterin Church (U.S.A.),  (KY App., July 28, 2017), a Kentucky appellate court applied the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine to dismiss a defamation suit brought by Roger Dermody, the minister who had been employed to oversee the mission work of Presbyterian Church (USA).  Dermody contended that the Church repeatedly falsely accused him of unethical conduct.  An audit committee investigation had found that Dermody had failed to adequately supervise three employees who created a separate corporation to carry out church mission work free of budget cuts and leadership changes. The court said:

We have carefully examined the issue and have determined we cannot provide Dermody the relief he seeks without excessive government entanglement into an ecclesiastical controversy-- that controversy is the disagreement between a minister and his church about what constitutes unethical conduct by one of that church's ministers.

Judge Combs concurred, but said:

... I write separately to express my concern about the disregard of Dermody's reputation demonstrated by the conduct of the Presbyterian Church.... 

The generalized announcement that he was dismissed due to "ethical violations" has clearly cast a shadow over his name.... Dermody now bears the inevitable burden of re-establishing a good name that was needlessly sullied by the church's failure to report his true shortcoming: that of being a poor manager rather than a corrupt or fallen cleric.

Becket issued a press release announcing the decision.

Court Says Disaffiliated Church's Property Belongs To Local Congregation, Not PCUSA

In Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area v. Eden Prairie Presbyterian Church, Inc., (MN Ct. App., April 24, 2017), a Minnesota state appeals court held that it was proper to apply the "neutral principles of law"approach, rather than applying the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine, to decide ownership of property of a congregation which had disaffiliated from the Presbyterian Church USA.  Affirming the trial court, the Court of Appeals held that the property belongs to the local congregation despite the trust clause in PCUSA's Book of Order.

Court Says Religious Autonomy Precludes Adjudication of Suit By Torture Victim

In a fascinating decision handed down June 17, an Oklahoma trial court held that the "religious autonomy doctrine" requires it to dismiss a suit against a U.S. church by a convert from Islam to Christianity who was captured and tortured in Syria because of his conversion. The facts are set out more fully in a complaint (full text) filed in 2014.  A Tulsa, Oklahoma resident who was born in Syria decided to convert, but told First Presbyterian Church leaders that his conversion had to remain confidential because he periodically traveled back to Syria and the punishment for apostasy under Sharia law was death. Despite assurances of confidentiality, the church published an announcement of his baptism in its Order of Worship, which was posted on the World Wide Web.  After traveling back to Syria, plaintiff was bound, beaten and tortured by radical Muslims who threatened to behead him. He eventually escaped.  His suit alleges that the church is guilty of negligence, breach of contract and outrageous conduct leading to extreme emotional distress.

In Doe v. First Presbyterian Church USA of Tulsa, Oklahoma, (OK Dist. Ct., June 17, 2016), the court held that the public dissemination of the names of those who have been baptized "is a key part of how the Church requires a conversion and baptism to be 'visible" to the world." The court went on to say:

the simple dispositive issue is whether the public dissemination of Plaintiff's name as a baptized person is "rooted in religious belief"....

[A] secular Court like this one must not consider claims ... that arise out of a sacrament because a sacrament is part of the most sacred beliefs of that religious institution.... Defendants' deeply held religious belief about the visible, public nature of baptism must not be disturbed by this Court. [emphasis in original]

Tulsa World reports on the decision, with additional background.

Church Official's Defamation Suit Dismissed On Ecclesiastical Abstention Grounds

In Dermody v. Presbyterian Church (USA), (KY Cir. Ct., Sept. 21, 2015), a Kentucky trial court dismissed on ecclesiastical abstention grounds a defamation suit by PCUSA's former Deputy Executive Director of Mission against PCUSA.  Plaintiff Roger Dermody based his claim on PCUSA's informing people outside the governing body of the church that Dermody had violated PCUSA's ethics policies, apparently by allowing pastors under his supervision to set up a new non-profit organization to support the creation of new worship communities. The court concluded that if it were to adjudicate the defamation claim and the defense of truthfulness, it would have to determine whether Dermody had in fact committed ethics violations, which would require it to interpret church doctrine and policies. [Thanks to Tom Rutledge for the lead.]

Kansas Trial Court Applies Neutral Principles Approach In Suit Over Presbyterian Church Property

KCTV News reports on a decision handed down this week by the Kansas 10th Judicial District trial court in a dispute between two factions of the Presbyterian Church of Stanley over ownership of church property. Last year, the pastor and 300 parishioners of the Overland Park, Kansas congregation broke away from the Presbyterian Church (USA) and affiliated with the more conservative Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians. The parent body, Heartland Presbytery, filed suit over ownership. The court ordered the two factions to pray in separate rooms in the church while the case was in litigation. Wednesday the court issued a ruling, holding that the property does not belong to the Presbytery, but does belong to the local congregation that remains with the PCUSA. The court used a "neutral principles" approach, even though traditionally Kansas courts have deferred to the decision of the parent body in churches with a hierarchical structure.

In its decision, the court rejected the argument that under church law the property is held in trust for the regional Presbytery.  Because the deed and mortgages are in the name of the local congregation, it is the owner. However on the question of which faction constitutes the local congregation, the court deferred to the PCUSA Constitution finding that the faction remaining loyal to it was entitled to ownership rights. The court gave the parties ten days to work out building occupancy arrangements.

Settlement Reached In Presbyterian Church Property Dispute

Presbyterian News Service and The Christian Post reported last week that a settlement has been reached in a lawsuit (see prior posting) brought against Presbyterian Church USA by the Dallas, Highland Park Presbyterian Church. Highland Park, a megachurch, has voted to break away from PCUSA and affiliate with the more conservative Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians.  The suit had been filed by Highland Park to determine ownership of church property. Under the settlement, Highland Park will pay $7.8 million (26% of its assets) to PCUSA to obtain a release of claims that the property belongs to PCUSA under it Book of Order trust clause and to obtain ecclesiastical dismissal.  The dollar amount was agreed on in court-facilitated mediation, and was based on the percentage of Highland Park members that have chosen to remain with PCUSA.

Break-Away Presbyterian Congregation Sues To Retain Property Ownership

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported yesterday that the Sheboygan County, Wisconsin First Church of Oostburg has filed a state court lawsuit against the Presbyterian Church USA in a bid to retain ownership of congregational property in the wake of its vote last week to disaffiliate from the Presbyterian Church USA and join the more conservative Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians. The Church of Oostburg's vote to disaffiliate came just days ahead of the decision at the Presbyterian General Assembly to allow clergy to officiate at same-sex marriage ceremonies and to redefine marriage as a covenant between "two people".  The Presbyterian Church wants the Oostburg congregation to pay $500,000 in order to keep the property.

Pennsylvania Appellate Court: Property of Breakaway Congregation Belongs To PCUSA

In Peters Creek United Presbyterian Church v. Washington Presbytery of Pennsylvania, (PA Commonw. Ct., April 30, 2014), the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court in a 4-3 decision held that the church building and other property of Peters Creek Church is held in trust for the Presbyterian Church USA, despite the vote of a majority of the congregation's members to break away and instead affiliate with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Applying neutral principles of civil law, the majority held that 2001 Peters Creek bylaw amendments bound the congregation to the PCUSA Book of Order (including its trust clause), and attempts in 2007 to revise the bylaws were invalid. The majority said in part:

[E]nforcement of Peters Creek Church’s commitment to the PCUSA is required by neutral principles if that commitment does not violate the laws of the Commonwealth. The non-profit corporation Peters Creek Church unequivocally incorporated into its own governing documents the mandatory provisions of the Book of Order, including the commitment not to disaffiliate without permission from the Washington Presbytery. Enforcement of those documents, in accordance with neutral principles, does not prevent any individual member of Peters Creek Church from exercising his or her religious preference to leave the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and join the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, or any other church, or no church at all.

The dissenters, in an opinion by Judge McCulloch contended that no trust in favor of PCUSA was created and the 2007 vote to disaffiliate was valid.