Overture 71

On Amending G-8.0201, “Property Is Held in Trust”—From the Presbytery of Stockton.

The Presbytery of Stockton overtures the 217th General Assembly (2006) to direct the Stated Clerk to send the following proposed amendments to the presbyteries for their affirmative or negative votes:

1. Shall G-8.0201 be amended to read as follows: [Text to be deleted is shown with a strike-through; text to be added or inserted is shown as italic.]

“All property held by or for a particular church, a presbytery, a synod, the General Assembly, or the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), whether legal title is lodged in a corporation, a trustee or trustees, or an unincorporated association, and whether the property is used in programs of a particular church or of a more inclusive governing body or retained for the production of income, is held in trust nevertheless for the use and benefit of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) no matter how title is held or by whom, is the sole property of that church, except that the amount of any financial assistance provided by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to that church to purchase, improve, or repair that property, is a lien on that property for the benefit of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).”

2. Shall G-8.0300 and 8.0301 be deleted and “G-8.0400-.0701” be re-numbered as “G-8.0300-.0601:

“G 8.0300 3. Property Used Contrary to Constitution

“G 8.0301 Property Used Contrary to Constitution

“Whenever property of, or held for, a particular church of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) ceases to be used by that church as a particular church of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in accordance with this Constitution, such property shall be held, used, applied, transferred, or sold as provided by the presbytery.”

3. Shall current G-8.0401 be amended to read as follows: [Text to be deleted is shown with a strike-through; text to be added or inserted is shown as italic.]

“Whenever a particular church is formally dissolved by the presbytery, or has become extinct by reason of the dispersal of its members, the abandonment of its work, or other cause and no longer exists as a church body, such property as it may have shall be held, used, and applied for such uses, purposes, and trusts as the presbytery may direct, limit, and appoint, or such property may be sold or disposed of as the presbytery may direct, in conformity with the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).”

4. Shall current G-8.0501 be amended to read as follows: [Text to be deleted is shown with a strike-through; text to be added or inserted is shown as italic.]

“So long as a particular church is a member of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), it shall not sell, mortgage, or otherwise encumber any of its real property and it shall not acquire real property subject to an encumbrance or condition without the written permission of the presbytery transmitted through the session of the particular church.”

5. Shall current G-8.0502 be amended to read as follows: [Text to be deleted is shown with a strike-through; text to be added or inserted is shown as italic.]

“So long as a particular church is a member of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), it shall not lease its real property used for purposes of worship, or lease for more than five years any of its other real property, without the written permission of the presbytery transmitted through the session of the particular church.”

6. Shall current G-8.0601 be amended to read as follows: [Text to be deleted is shown with a strike-through; text to be added or inserted is shown as italic.]

“The relationship to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) of a particular church can be severed only by either constitutional action on the part of the presbytery. (G-11.0103i), or by the vote of sixty (60) percent of the active membership of that particular church. If there is a schism within the membership of a particular church and the presbytery is unable to effect a reconciliation or a division into separate churches within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the presbytery shall determine if one of the factions is entitled to the property because it is identified by the presbytery as the true church within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). This determination does not depend upon which faction received the majority vote within the particular church at the time of the schism the sixty (60) percent vote of the active membership within that particular church shall determine what shall be done with that church’s property not withstanding the provisions of G-11.O1O3i or any other provision in the Book of Order.”

As Chapter VIII of the Book of Order now reads, if a congregation has any irreconcilable theological differences with the actions of the leadership of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) [PC(USA)], or to any future amendments to the Book of Order, that congregation has only two options: it can stay in the PC(USA) in spite of those irreconcilable differences, or it can separate from the PC(USA) and forfeit all of its assets to the PC(USA).

There is no biblical or moral basis why a congregation’s property should be controlled by or forfeited to the PC(USA) upon severance by that congregation from the PC(USA), except only to the extent the PC(USA) has expended funds in behalf of such church to acquire, improve, or repair such property. Then PC(USA) should have the limited right to reimbursement for those funds.

No church should have to forfeit its assets to uphold its biblical beliefs. Amending Chapter VIII will eliminate these forfeiture clauses in the Book of Order and protect the assets of each congregation: the body of Christ that paid for those assets.