First Presbyterian Church of Corinth, Miss., v. St. Andrew Presbytery Case back in state court; presbytery's tactics rebuked By Patrick Jean Staff Writer The Layman Online Thursday, February 22, 2007 A Corinth, Miss., church's lawsuit against St. Andrew Presbytery is back in state court – along with a rebuke of the presbytery for having the case removed to federal court. U.S. District Court Judge Michael P. Mills remanded the property ownership case to Alcorn County Circuit Court on Feb. 20. The case was transferred to U.S. District Court, Northern District of Mississippi, Eastern Division on Feb. 13 when the presbytery's attorney, J. Hale Freeland of Oxford, filed a notice of removal. Mills was only expected to rule on a motion for a temporary restraining order sought by First Presbyterian Church in Corinth. Instead, he issued the remanding order because of what he called "the urgency of the property issues." Mills questioned the timing of the presbytery's notice of removal, which he said "raises suspicions as to whether it was made in good faith. That is, this case was removed the day before the expiration of a temporary restraining order … prohibiting defendant from taking any actions (such as changing the locks on church property) which might disturb the status quo prior to the property issues being decided." Alcorn County Circuit Court Judge Thomas J. Gardner III issued the temporary restraining order on Feb. 5, the same day First Presbyterian filed suit against St. Andrew Presbytery seeking a declaratory judgment that it owns its property without interference by the northern Mississippi presbytery or the Presbyterian Church (USA). A hearing on whether to grant a preliminary injunction was scheduled for Feb. 15. Attorneys with Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell and Berkowitz, PC, a Jackson law firm representing the church, said a preliminary injunction will now be sought, along with an extension of the temporary restraining order, until Gardner decides the property issues. Freeland and the Rev. Dr. Gregory A. Goodwiller, executive presbyter and stated clerk of St. Andrew Presbytery, could not be reached for comment. 'Lacks subject matter jurisdiction' In returning the case to state court, Mills found the U.S. District Court "lacks subject matter jurisdiction over this case." He cited Presbyterian Church in U.S. v. Mary Elizabeth Blue Hall Memorial Presbyterian Church, a 1969 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, in determining that, "[C]ivil courts do have the authority to resolve property disputes between churches, so long as they do not impermissibly stray into deciding ecclesiastical questions." Mills addressed First Amendment issues raised by both sides in the case: The church's lawsuit argued that while Alcorn County Circuit Court "has subject matter jurisdiction to resolve the property dispute before it, it cannot do so by applying the PCUSA Book of Order property provisions, as such would constitute an unlawful church establishment prohibited by both the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and by the PCUSA's own Constitution." The presbytery's notice of removal argued that the church's lawsuit raised federal questions that included, "The free exercise of religion protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution by attempting to preclude the Presbytery from addressing questions relating to the governance of its congregations and the conduct of its sessions and minister members to which all the ministers and elders agreed to submit to when they were ordained and installed in their respective offices as required by the Book of Order." In his ruling, Mills said, "[D]efendant argues, without citation to authority, that the First Amendment issues raised by plaintiff's complaint serve to give rise to federal removal jurisdiction, but the court does not agree. … In the court's view, the First Amendment issues in this case are properly viewed as limitations upon the authority of the Circuit Court of Alcorn County, rather than the basis for any private right of action such as might implicate the substantial federal question doctrine." Origins of the lawsuit The lawsuit was filed to prevent St. Andrew Presbytery from taking action at its Feb. 6 stated meeting against First Presbyterian, said Walker W. "Bill" Jones III, one of the attorneys representing the 475-member congregation. Last month, the presbytery's Committee on Ministry sent a letter to the Rev. Dr. Don Elliott, First Presbyterian's pastor of 21 years. The letter informed Elliott of the committee's pending report at the Feb. 6 presbytery meeting that it "has directed the Executive Presbyter/Stated Clerk to begin the necessary legal proceedings to determine the presbytery's legal rights, and specifically to seek a declaratory judgment as to whether the courts in the State of Mississippi will recognize and uphold our constitution's trust clause." The letter also warned Elliott that "actively advocating for a congregation's withdrawal from the PCUSA is not an approved work." That letter was the first threat of legal action in a seven-month dispute involving the church, the presbytery and the PCUSA. A timeline is as follows: July 9, 2006 – First Presbyterian session tells the congregation that the church "cannot stay in the PCUSA as it stands now." July 31, 2006 – Session calls for a six-month "season of prayer and discernment" to determine whether it would remain in the PCUSA. Nov. 28, 2006 – Session recommends to the congregation that "we go in the direction of leaving the PCUSA in 12 to 18 months or less and moving to a new place in another Presbyterian and Reformed denomination." Jan. 23, 2007 – Session shares the resolution with the Committee on Ministry of St. Andrew Presbytery. Jan. 24, 2007 – Committee sends letter to Elliott. Feb. 5, 2007 – First Presbyterian files suit against St. Andrew Presbytery in Alcorn County Circuit Court. Judge Thomas J. Gardner III issues a temporary restraining order and schedules a preliminary injunction hearing for Feb. 15. Feb. 13, 2007 – St. Andrew Presbytery files notice of removal in U.S. District Court, Northern District of Mississippi, Eastern Division. Feb. 16, 2007 – The Rev. Dr. Gregory A. Goodwiller, executive presbyter and stated clerk of St. Andrew Presbytery, writes a letter about the lawsuit to minister members and sessions. Feb. 20, 2007 – U.S. District Court Judge Michael P. Mills remands the lawsuit to Alcorn County Circuit Court. Patrick Jean is a staff writer for The Layman and The Layman Online. He can be reached at pjean@layman.org.

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