Judge bars presbytery from taking any action against property, leaders of First Baton Rouge
By Craig M. Kibler
The Layman Online
Friday, September 15, 2006

A state district judge has granted a preliminary injunction sought by the trustees of First Presbyterian Church in Baton Rouge that bars the Presbytery of South Louisiana or any other denominational entity from taking any action against the congregation's leaders or attempting to take over its property.

The preliminary injunction order was signed Sept. 14 by 19th Judicial District Judge Timothy Kelley, who previously had signed a temporary restraining order at the request of the trustees.

The injunction will be in effect pending the outcome of a case in which the congregation's trustees are asking a state district court to declare that it, and not the Presbyterian Church (USA), owns the congregation's property.

In their request for a declaratory judgment on the congregation's property, the trustees are asking the court to rule that the congregation's property "is held without trust for the use and benefit of the PCUSA or other national denomination, or any of its regional administrative units such as the Presbytery of South Louisiana" and that "neither the PCUSA nor any of its regional administrative units such as the Presbytery of South Louisiana has any right, title or interest in said property nor right to determine the ownership thereof." the rest