LYNCHBURG, Va. -- The Rev. Jerry Falwell's church and the state of Virginia have ended a federal lawsuit over an 18th-century law limiting how much land a church can own.
Both sides agreed Oct. 1 that the law no longer applies to the Thomas Road Baptist Church, which plans to expand, according to The Associated Press. The church was incorporated in April after U.S. District Judge Norman K. Moon struck down another state law that had barred churches from becoming corporations. Corporations are not subject to land limits.
The property law, designed to prevent churches from becoming too powerful, bars a church from owning more than 15 acres in a city or town or 250 acres in a county. Falwell sued the state to get the law overturned; he plans to build a 12,000-seat sanctuary on 146 acres near Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.
The law and former ban on church incorporation were rooted in Thomas Jefferson's 1779 religious freedom statute for Virginia, according to the AP. The statute called for a strict separation of church and state. Virginia and West Virginia are the only states with the church land restrictions.
