[thor76]

Actually, I thought that their corporate structure was in some ways similar to that of an Episcopal church: the parish is a seperate corporation, with a lay board. The parish corporation defines itself as Catholic (or Episcopalian in my example), and affiliates with the local diocese as a member parish (accepting the tenets of the faith, etc., and the authority of the Diocesan bishop), yet retains control of its property & assets.

[redgolum]

In the LCMS constitution, the local parishes have control over the property. The problem is that in Missouri corporate law, the local churches are part of the LCMS corporation. The problem arose because a gentleman died and left his farm to my home church. Unfortunately the way the laws are the deed went to the parent corporation, and the proceeds from the farm could only be spent in specific ways.

It was a nutty thing, and drove my father nuts for months trying to sort it out. While the local parish is a separate entity, it is also under the parent corporation (in this case the LCMS). The fight over the orthodox parish property in the Episcopal Church is the same type of thing. In theory, the local churches control the property. As many have found out, legally that is not the case.