Court Opinion

ID: 9935917
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-09 18:57:00.688694+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:29:49.429764
License: Public Domain

I concur in the judgment rendered, because neither the Constitution of the PCUS nor the charter of Trinity Presbyterian Church contains language requiring that disputed property be turned over to PCUS. In view of this fact, I believe this case is controlled by Jones v. Wolf, ___ U.S. ___,99 S.Ct. 3020, 61 L.Ed.2d 775 (1979), where the Supreme Court of the United States, by a narrow vote, modified the 100-year-old rule of Watson v. Jones, 80 U.S. (13 Wall.) 679,20 L.Ed. 666 (1871), by holding that a denomination has a claim to the property of a local congregation only if the denominational constitution contains language requiring that disputed property be turned over to the denomination or if the charter of the local church contains similar language.
TORBERT, C.J., concurs.