I have been reading a lot of cases that have to do with church property, especially when the church is affiliated with a larger national church. It looks like the most common of these is Episcopal Churches. A lot of Episcopal Churches wanted to disaffiliate with the national church when the national church ordained an openly gay bishop, the local churches wanted to join the Anglican Church of Uganda. Many of the dioceses of the Episcopal Church then sued to get the church property and funds back, where the diocese and the national church won. I wanted to get peoples opinion on this especially as a similarity to JWs and the claim that Watchtower is taking away congregation property.
Church Property Ownership
by Richard Oliver 5 Replies latest watchtower scandals
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sparrowdown
I don't know of any situation with WT or JW congregations that is similiar in any way to the example you mention.
Do you have any specific examples of JW congregations where an openly gay elder was appointed by WT and the congregation revolted because of it?
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blondie
RO, after you respond to sparrowdown's questions, consider this.
I'm no tax lawyer, but I know that the WTS and the congregations function under the laws for religious non-profit in the US.. A congregation can be dissolved by the parent non-profit the WTS if they do not adhere to the regulations for non-profits.
As you do seem to consider yourself a legal expert of sorts, you might enjoy reading the IRS regulations regarding religious non-profits in the US. I have no knowledge of how that works in other countries, but since the international parent non-profit the WTS is incorporated under US laws, it might not matter if the individual congregation is in another country.
https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/churches-religious-organizations
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Richard Oliver
Sparrowdown:
I only used the Episcopal Church and the gay bishop as an example where a local church wants to leave the national church. The local church wanted to take the property with them when they left but the national church said that they couldn't take the property, that the property still belonged to the national church.
Blondie:
I don't understand what you point is. The rule that you point too is pretty much stating that no one can derive financial benefit from the non-profit and that the non-profit cannot engage in political activity unless they will lose their tax-exempt status.
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sparrowdown
RO -oh, ok. So you are saying that WT cannot "take away congregation property" because it already belongs to them?
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Crazyguy
I think one has to look into the Kingdom Hall near San Francisco that was taken away from the local congregation , Menlo Park, and the elders DFD. I'm not sure of the details but that would be a good start on how the WT is handling property ownership.