Return $6.6 Million, Church Told

A federal Bankruptcy Court judge ruled today that a fundamentalist church “abused the trust” of a chain store heiress and ordered the return of $6.6 million that Elizabeth Dovydenas said she was duped into donating.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James F. Queenan Jr., who presided over a three-week, non-jury trial , ruled that Bible Speaks founder Carl H. Stevens, 57, was guilty of “clerical deceit, avarice and subjugation.” The Bible Speaks Church had said a ruling in favor of the daughter of the founder of the Dayton-Hudson Corp. would result in its financial ruin. Dovydenas, 34, had sued the church, Stevens and member Kathy Hill for the return of donations she made while a parishioner from 1983 to 1986.