Posted on 12/17/2008 12:18:03 PM PST by Alex Murphy
TULSA, Okla. (AP) - A Presbyterian church in Tulsa that went to court over the ownership of its building now again owns the structure.
Kirk of the Hills Presbyterian Church in south-central Tulsa, the largest Presbyterian church in Oklahoma, left the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) two years ago over concerns that the denomination had abandoned its biblical foundation.
The church sued, seeking to retain control of its building and land. But Tulsa County District Court Judge Jefferson Sellers ruled that the denominational constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) made the presbytery, not Kirk of the Hills, the rightful owner of the property.
The congregation at Kirk of the Hills voted on Nov. 30 to accept an agreement with Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and its Eastern Oklahoma Presbytery to buy the property for $1.75 million and to end all litigation.
The presbytery officially sold the property to the church yesterday.
Good. They had a right to it, IMO. Thanks for posting this.
...we need more break-away Presbyterian congregations like this
...we need more break-away Presbyterian congregations like this
Great news for the other congregations that stand for biblical truth and wish to do the same.
This is one area where the Baptists have it right.
The local Baptist congregation owns the building and the property. If they want to leave the demonination, it is as simple as changing the sign outside the building. This prevents a lot of abuse by the national denomination.
Yeah, but they had to buy it to get it.
Our church bought the land, built the church and years later built the fellowship hall.
If we tried the same thing PC(USA) would try and take it or make us buy it from them.
That’s the dirty little secret - The PC(USA) don’t care how many break away - as long as they can keep most of the property or sell it back. The big dogs running the show will be able to run a long time on the proceeds.
We're PCUSA down here in Southern California and have to tolerate all the useless BS that goes on within the presbytery.
Apparently, the deeds to all PCUSA church properties are owned by the presbytery and not by the church members, even though the members pay for the property. That's how they denomination keeps the churches at bay.
But our church (Solana Beach Presbyterian) recently stopped sending the monthly/quarterly/annual remittances back to the presbytery, in protest over the policies. Apparently there is little that the national organization can do about it.
It's not much but it's a start.
Be advised that there is a confessing church movement that is for PCUSA congregations that believe in the Bible and not in liberal PC horsemanure.
Also, be advised that there was a Methodist church in California that, several years ago, challenged in court the denomination's ownership of the property. They won. So if a few more churches challenge these rules forcing congregations to stay in the fold, then maybe freedom will reign again.
“But our church (Solana Beach Presbyterian) recently stopped sending the monthly/quarterly/annual remittances back to the presbytery, in protest over the policies”
....GOOD! .......Presbytery needs to know that not congregation goes along with their social activism.
my in-laws are members there. Beautiful church
Yeah, it stinks that they had to buy it back after the congregation already paid to build it. Had the PC paid for it, they should own it...but they didn’t.
I’m pleased for them. A lovely church in a very desirable location - we went to some Scout leader training there.
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