The United States Supreme Court has rejected a Presbyterian Church (USA) regional body’s effort to claim ownership of the property of a dismissed conservative congregation in Minnesota.
In an order released Monday, the high court declined to hear an appeal in the case of Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area v. Eden Prairie Presbyterian, allowing a lower court ruling in favor of the dismissed church to stand.
In a statement emailed to The Christian Post, Executive Presbyter the Rev. Jeff Japinga of the Twin Cities Area Presbytery stated that he was “deeply disappointed by the result,” arguing that the lower court rulings go against “the church’s historic and legal right to organize and govern itself free from governmental interference.”
“In violation of the First Amendment, the Minnesota courts substituted their own judgment and secular civil law for the mutual covenants of the Book of Order that binds all Presbyterians together,” stated Japinga.
“The Supreme Court’s decision to not hear our case is especially disappointing because the formal trust clause—which merely codified the Presbyterian church’s historical understanding…
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