NEW YORK, April 25 (UPI) -- Trinity Church in New York, the Episcopal parish known as Trinity Wall Street, estimates its assets are worth more than $2 billion.
The revelation of the value of its assets, mostly from real estate holdings in Manhattan, has split the church's congregants on how to manage the wealth, The New York Times reported Thursday.
The Times said the church traces its holdings to a gift of 215 acres in Manhattan from England's Queen Anne in 1705.
The estimate came after a lawsuit was filed by disgruntled parishioner Jeremy Bates, who said he wanted the church to be more accountable to its members.
"I felt the church was being too corporate and wasn't acting on its values," Bates said.
Differences over the church's direction and mission led half the 22-member vestry, or board, composed mostly of corporate and philanthropic executives, to resign or be pushed out of office last year, the newspaper said.
"Trinity Church properties are now among the most valuable in all of New York City, because they are sitting on the edge of the hottest neighborhoods in the city, SoHo, TriBeCa and Greenwich Village," said New York University urban policy Professor Mitchell Moss.
