| G-8.0000 |
THE CHURCH AND ITS PROPERTY |
| G-8.0100 |
1. Decisions Pertaining to Property |
G-8.0101
Decisions Regarding
Property |
The provisions of G-1.040a  and other provisions of this Constitution prescribing the manner in which decisions are made, reviewed, and corrected within this church are applicable to all matters pertaining to property. |
| G-8.0200 |
2. All Property Held in Trust
|
G-8.0201
Property Is
Held in Trust |
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.). |
G-8.0202 Incorporation
and Trustees |
Whenever permitted by civil law, each presbytery, synod, and the General Assembly shall cause a corporation to be formed and maintained. The council of the governing body shall constitute the Board of Trustees of the corporation unless the governing body shall determine an alternative method to constitute the Board of Trustees. |
| 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. |
| G-8.0400 |
4. Property of Church Dissolved or Extinct
|
G-8.0401
Property of
Church Dissolved or Extinct |
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, 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.). |
| G-8.0500 |
5. Selling, Encumbering, or Leasing Church Property
|
G-8.0501
Selling or Encumbering Church Property |
A particular church 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 |
G-8.0502
Leasing Church Property |
A particular church 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. |
| G-8.0600 |
6. Property of Church in Schism
|
G-8.0601
Property of
Church in
Schism |
The relationship to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) of a particular church can be severed only by constitutional action on the part of the presbytery. (G-11.0103i) 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. |
| G-8.0700 |
7. Exceptions
|
| G-8.0701 Exceptions |
The provisions of this chapter shall apply to all particular churches of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) except that any church which was not subject to a similar provision of the Constitution of the church of which it was a part, prior to the reunion of the Presbyterian Church in the United States and The United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America to form the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), shall be excused from that provision of this chapter if the congregation shall, within a period of eight years following the establishment of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), vote to be exempt from such provision in a regularly called meeting and shall thereafter notify the presbytery of which it is a constituent church of such vote. The particular church voting to be so exempt shall hold title to its property and exercise its privileges of incorporation and property ownership under the provisions of the Constitution to which it was subject immediately prior to the establishment of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). This paragraph may not be amended. |
