Court rules Fresno church may keep its property

Aug. 23, 2004

For centuries, the United Methodist Church has stated that all local church property is held in trust for the denomination.

The decision, the latest in a four-year battle between the church and the denomination, was issued Aug. 13.

St. Luke’s severed its affiliation with the United Methodist Church in 2000 but continues to meet on the disputed property.

A centuries-old clause in the United Methodist Book of Discipline, the denomination’s lawbook, states that all local church property is held in trust for the denomination. A Superior Court judge ruled in 2002 that the local church could not revoke the trust clause.

In a statement released by the California-Nevada Annual (regional) Conference, Bishop Beverly J. Shamana reiterated that the responsibility of the local United Methodist Church is to hold in trust church property "that enables us to be a United Methodist presence in the community. We are living in stress-filled times and the United Methodist Church, with its unique message of Open Hearts, Open Minds and Open Doors, is a spiritual presence we want to see maintained in the Fresno community."

Robert M. Shannon, trial attorney for the California-Nevada Conference said, "We believe the trial court [in June 2002] made the right decision after hearing all the evidence in the case and we strongly disagree with the contrary ruling by the Court of Appeal."

Attorneys for the conference are reviewing the decision to determine what options they will exercise.

The Rev. Kevin Smith, pastor of St. Luke’s, said he feels the conference will probably appeal but he wishes they would not.

"Enough money has been spent in this case already," he said.

A split between members of St. Luke’s and the denomination led to a court battle over who owns the property. The conference and members of St. Luke’s have been struggling with each other for four years, ever since the congregation withheld apportionments in protest of the conference’s decision not to discipline pastors for participating in a same-sex union service.

"I love the United Methodist Church," Smith said. "But they can’t just pick and choose which parts of the Discipline they want to adhere to. This has never been just about homosexuality."

In the 2002 ruling, the judge said the state Corporations Code supported the denomination’s Book of Discipline. The latest ruling however, agrees with St. Luke’s contention "that it could and in fact did revoke the trust which had existed in favor of the United Methodist Church."

Smith said California’s corporate laws have always been on the side of the congregation.

"California corporate law allows us, as owners of the property, to change terms of the trust in which we hold the property."

The trust clause, declaring that the title to all local church property is held by the annual (regional) conference, has been upheld by a variety of U.S. courts during the 200-plus history of the denomination in the United States.

News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

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Suggested Resources California Court Ruling (PDF) The Trust Clause: Who Owns Your Church? (PDF)