Ala. Code § 10A-20-2.03: Independence of Church Corporations in Control of Real Property.

(a) Unless otherwise clearly stated in the deed or other instrument under which any church corporation organized under this article derives title or unless afterwards approved by a majority of the adult members of the congregation of the church at a meeting held after announcement from the pulpit of the church at least seven days from the date of the announcement, the church corporation, whether heretofore or hereafter organized and incorporated under this article, shall be, and shall remain, a distinct and independent church corporation free from the regulation and control of any higher church body, denomination, or other organization with which it is now, or hereafter, associated or affiliated insofar as the management, control, disposition, or alienation of its real property is concerned.

(b) The provisions of this section shall in nowise be construed as conferring on any church organized under this article greater power of control over its real property than it possessed prior to its passage nor shall this section be construed as diminishing in any respect the control or supervision of the real property of the church organized under this article exercised by any higher church body, denomination, or other organization prior to its passage.