Breakaway churches face a new battle

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 where generations have worshipped does not belong to them – but rather to the national denomination they believe has lost its biblical authority and want to cut ties with.

"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 Sacramento-area 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.

Monday, 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 Wednesday. "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."

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