ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A Maryland appeals court has ruled that a suburban megachurch that split from the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in 1999 must relinquish millions of dollars in property back to the denomination.
Heart Church Ministries in Temple Hills, Md., must turn over more than $30 million in property, including three sanctuaries, an office building and a large tract of property owned by the ministry, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals ruled in an opinion filed Oct. 28.
Thomas L. McCally, a lawyer for the denomination, views the decision as significant for the individual church and others with similar hierarchical structures. “For the denomination and for the AME Zion parties, this has always been about … more than real estate,” said McCally, who is based in Washington. “This is about enforcing its ‘Book of Discipline,’ enforcing its polity, its practices and the way it governs itself through its ‘Book of Discipline.’ … I think this case is significant for other hierarchical denominations because that is the fundamental issue at play here and that is how a hierarchical denomination governs itself.”
The appeals court upheld a lower court decision that the real estate acquired by the congregation while it was associated with the denomination still belongs to the denomination. It also upheld the lower court’s determination that the congregation retained ownership of personal property.
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