In these appeals transferred from the Supreme Court of Georgia, we must once again venture into the thorny and contentious arena of church property disputes. The issue presented here is whether a church corporation and its property are controlled by Timberridge Presbyterian Church, Inc. “Timberridge”, a local church which has voted to disaffiliate from the Presbyterian Church USA “PCUSA”, or controlled by the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta, Inc. “the Presbytery”, the regional body representing PCUSA. Because the application of “neutral principles of law” to all the relevant documents does not demonstrate that the regional body has the right to control the local church corporation or its property, the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of the Presbytery. We therefore reverse the judgment of the trial court. The relevant facts are not generally disputed by the parties. Timberridge Presbyterian Church was founded as an unincorporated association in 1829. In 1880, Timberridge became affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in the United States “PCUS”, sometimes called the “southern church.” In the early 1980s, a union was proposed between PCUS and the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. “UPCUSA”. The union officially occured in 1983, forming the PCUSA. Timberridge was incorporated as Timberridge Presbyterian Church, Inc. in 1984. The PCUSA allowed member churches a period of eight years after its formation to opt out of certain provisions in its Book of Order pertaining to local church property, and in 1987 Timberridge attempted to exercise this option, although PCUSA contends that attempt was ineffectual.
In 2007, Timberridge filed a complaint for declaratory judgment and petition for injunction seeking a declaration with regard to the existence of any trust in its property in favor of the Presbytery or the PCUSA. Approximately two weeks later, PCUSA filed an answer and counterclaim seeking injunctive relief and bad faith attorney fees. About two months after that, Timberridge voted to disaffiliate from the PCUSA. The Presbytery then filed a separate action in ejectment seeking a writ of possession, damages, and injunctive relief forbidding Timberridge from using the name “Timberridge Presbyterian Church” or controlling the church corporation.
