Pittsburgh Presbytery expected to approve $575,000 settlement

Pittsburgh Presbytery officials are expected to approve a $575,000 settlement with Memorial Park Presbyterian Church in McCandless at a meeting Friday, according to the Rev. Doug Portz, acting pastor to the presbytery.

The settlement allows Memorial Park to keep its more than seven acres of property, worth roughly $7 million. The settlement also enables Memorial Park to leave the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and join the more conservative Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

Memorial Park had filed a complaint in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court on Jan. 4 seeking a declaration that the church solely owns its property and that the Pittsburgh Presbytery and its parent, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), had no claim to it.