Tiny New Orleans congregation defeats denominational superpowers
By Parker T. Williamson, The Layman, December 29, 2009
BATON ROUGE – In a sweeping Declaratory Judgment and Permanent Injunction on behalf of the 20-member Carrollton Presbyterian Church, the 19th Judicial District Court of Louisiana has ordered “the Presbytery of South Louisiana of the Presbyterian Church (USA), its officers, agents, employees and counsel, and any persons or entities in active concert or participation with the presbytery, or acting by or through the presbytery or on its behalf or in its stead” to leave Carrollton’s property alone.
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No retaliation allowed
The order, signed by Judge Kay Bates on Dec. 4, warns the presbytery and any higher PCUSA governing body that may consider itself connected to it not to initiate “any disciplinary or other retaliatory action” against Carrollton’s ministers, officers or members, “which directly or indirectly arises from or is connected to any property issue raised in, prompted by, or related to the subject matter of this litigation.”
No takeover allowed
In an apparent slap to the Synod of the Sun, whose administrative commission tried to dissolve the Carrollton church in defiance of the court’s earlier temporary restraining order, Bates ordered higher governing bodies of the PCUSA not to appoint administrative commissions or otherwise attempt to wrest control from Carrollton’s elected leaders with respect to the congregation’s real and personal property rights.
No interference allowed
The court has also enjoined PCUSA governing bodies from “otherwise interfering with the normal duties and responsibilities of the officers, ministers and employees of Carrollton Presbyterian Church … in any way that pertains to the ownership, control, use or disposition” of Carrollton’s real and personal property.
Warfare ended
The order effectively terminates a barrage of trial-court level pleadings, depositions, interrogatories, affidavits, testimony, exhibits, arguments, memoranda and other legal assaults unleashed against the New Orleans congregation by denominational officials in Louisiana, Texas and Kentucky, advised by 12 lawyers from New York, San Francisco, Louisville, New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
Carrollton is represented by two Baton Rouge attorneys, Lloyd J. Lunceford and Eugene R. Groves, of Taylor, Porter, Brooks & Phillips, L.L.P.
Of the 441 communications that were passed among lawyers and bureaucrats from South Louisiana Presbytery, Synod of the Sun and General Assembly offices regarding the Carrollton case, 398 bear the name of Mark Tammen, an attorney in the PCUSA’s Office of the General Assembly. That revelation alone suggests that the assault against Carrollton was orchestrated from denominational headquarters in Louisville.
Tammen was one of the two authors of the infamous “Louisville Papers,” legal counsel documents sent by his office to presbytery colleagues, advising them to oust ministers, take over church sessions, confiscate church properties, change the locks, and seek “hierarchical” rather than Baptist judges in situations where a local church might assert its claim to properties that its congregation purchased and owns.
Secrecy defeated
Presbytery lawyers fought vigorously but unsuccessfully – all the way to the Louisiana Supreme Court – to keep the 441 documents under wraps. At the end, South Louisiana Presbytery was slapped with a contempt of court judgment and forced to turn the documents over to Carrollton’s attorneys. Those documents’ authorship suggests that South Louisiana Presbytery was not acting on its own in its attempt to cloud the title to Carrollton’s property, but was doing the bidding of Synod of the Sun and General Assembly officials.
Money matters
The Presbytery of South Louisiana had plenty of outside counsel, but the cost of its litigation has fallen heavily upon its own shoulders. Based on financial reports submitted to the presbytery by its council, legal expenses, almost entirely resulting from the Carrollton case, are expected to total $300,000 by the end of 2009. These and other expenses have pushed the presbytery to the edge of a financial cliff, exhausting reserve funds and forcing presbytery officials to fire key executive leaders and members of its office staff.
At an Oct. 9-10 presbytery meeting, a motion was made to call a halt to presbytery’s litigation against Carrollton “until the synod can explain to our presbytery what the presbytery gains by continuing this lawsuit.” During the parliamentary skirmish that ensued, a motion was made to refer this matter to the presbytery’s attorney. Objections were raised that the attorney had a pecuniary interest in the case that would obviate his objectivity in advising whether the case should be continued.
But others argued that “we need to be team players,” and if synod and General Assembly officials believe the case is worth pursuing, the presbytery should go along with them. Supporters of the “team” argument also assured the presbytery that they had an agreement from Synod of the Sun officials that the synod would pick up the tab of any appeal in the event that the presbytery lost its case in District Court.
The motion to refer was approved by a narrow 3-2 ratio, and audible expressions of unhappiness filled the room.
David vs. Goliath
Undaunted by a Goliath-sized army arrayed against it, Carrollton dug in his heels. Having outlived Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans congregation was not about to be intimidated by the PCUSA. Accusing its opponents of imposing unnecessary legal costs upon it, the Carrollton congregation is now suing the presbytery for sanctions, a move that may help it recover some of the costs that it has had to bear throughout the legal wrangling.
Should Carrollton’s sanctions suit prevail, presbytery officials whose coffers have been drained may have to ask their synod and General Assembly cohorts and their lawyers to ante-up.
But however these ecclesiastical officials determine who among them will pay the piper, a tiny congregation has won protection from a civil court, and the assurance that it may continue to manage its property without mega-church interference or retribution.
At press time, it is not known if the Presbytery of South Louisiana, on its own behalf and presumably in concert with its denominationally orchestrated entourage, will enter an appeal against the trial court decision.