The Georgia Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s judgment that had awarded the disputed property of Timberridge Presbyterian Church, a 300-member congregation in McDonough, Ga. now affiliated with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC), to the presbytery.

Greater Atlanta Presbytery has filed a notice of its intent to petition for an appeal of a recent ruling that awarded property rights to the local congregation.

In its Nov. 30 ruling, the Georgia Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s judgment that had awarded the disputed property of Timberridge Presbyterian Church, a 300-member congregation in McDonough, Ga. now affiliated with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC), to the presbytery. The appeals court states that applying the neutral principles of law to the case does not demonstrate that the presbytery has a right to control the local church corporation or its property.

The Timberridge congregation left the denomination in November 2007 and has been embroiled in the property dispute since. Approximately 94 percent of the church’s membership that participated in the congregational meeting voted to leave the PCUSA.

A Georgia Superior Court ruled in March 2009 in favor of the presbytery’s property claim, and Timberridge appealed the decision.

A similar case, involving Christ Church of Savannah, Ga., and its legal battle with The Episcopal Church, is working its way through Georgia’s courts as well. In September the Presbyterian Lay Committee submitted an amicus brief supporting a similar application of the neutral principles of law to deciding the case.