Who should own church property?

I have discovered that in many of the major denominations that the hierarchy of that denomination actually owns the property rather than the people who purchased the property, built on the property and keep up the property. My problem is that this seems to put the persons in the position of being unable to think or speak for themselves without the threat of loosing their property they have worked so hard to build and maintain. It also puts those in control of being able to sell the property out from under the congregation if the congregation does not meet the necessary "giving" to the total organization. I would like to know if this kind of thinking really meets Christian ethics in organization. At present many of the "Methodist" organizations in this nation are organized this way which seems to be an organization concept that came out of the Roman Catholic Church along with the hierarchy that many of the "Methodist" organizations follow.