“Mere participation and cooperation in denominational affairs alone does not demonstrate a church’s intent to be bound by a denominational trust clause.”

A Clay County (Mo.) circuit court judge has dismissed, with prejudice, Heartland Presbytery’s claims to the property of Gashland Presbyterian Church, located on the south side of Kansas City, Mo. Gashland left the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 2008 to join the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC).

The court ruled that Missouri property cases must be judged on the neutral principles of law, rather than the hierarchical-based argument that church property is held in trust for the denomination.

“The trust provision contained in the denomination’s Book of Order is insufficient as a declaration of trust under Missouri law because it is neither made by the owner of the property (i.e. Gashland), nor to the extent the trust is alleged to cover Gashland’s real property, is the denomination’s Book of Order signed on behalf of Gashland,” the ruling states.

Citing the congregation’s 1948 articles of agreement, the court rejected Heartland’s express trust theory because the presbytery had conveyed the property outright to Gashland. The court also rejected the argument that later revisions constituted consent to a trust.

Many presbyteries have argued that participating in the life of the denomination equals an implied trust. The judge, Larry D. Harmon, didn’t buy that argument.

“Mere participation and cooperation in denominational affairs alone does not demonstrate a church’s intent to be bound by a denominational trust clause,” the judge wrote. The judge also cited the “inherent” right of corporations to disaffiliate from another organization.