TEMPLE HILLS, Md. — In the latest chapter of a six-year legal saga, a Maryland judge has ruled that a Washington-area megachurch must turn church property over to the denomination it left in 1999.
From the Heart Church Ministries, a 26,000-member church based in Temple Hills, Md., placed its property in trust with the AME Zion Church in 1981, when it joined the denomination, Judge Sheila Tillerson-Adams ruled Aug. 17.
Citing legal documents and AME Zion’s Book of Discipline, Tillerson-Adams of the Circuit Court of Prince George’s County said the trust is irrevocable.
A news release from AME Zion Church said the property in dispute is worth more than $25 million.
The battle between From the Heart and AME Zion, a 1.4 million-member denomination based in Charlotte, N.C., has been bouncing through the courts since 2000. The Aug. 17 decision was the second time the Prince George’s County Circuit Court ruled in the denomination’s favor.
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