Secession sends churches into unknown territory
No easy answers on who really owns church property
Sunday, December 02, 2007
By Ann Rodgers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

With an Episcopal diocese that wants to secede from its denomination and several Presbyterian Church (USA) congregations that are trying to do the same, Western Pennsylvania courts could soon be awash in lawsuits over church property.

What is at stake beyond souls are millions of dollars in assets and in buildings where generations have worshiped. Activists for both the denominations and seceding parishes express public confidence that civil courts will rule on their favor. But experienced attorneys on both sides believe the outcomes uncertain. That may be especially true if a whole diocese tries to secede -- which is without legal precedent.

"Property law varies from state to state. It varies from one end of the commonwealth to the other," said Michael McCarty, a Philadelphia attorney who has represented several churches that want to leave the mainline Presbyterian Church (USA) for the more conservative Evangelical Presbyterian Church. the rest