Ministry Highlights January-February2013
March 11, 2013Seven Essentials of City Transformation Part 1
March 15, 2013Just imagine, the head pastor of your church resigns unexpectedly with no clear successor. The elders form a committee to select a new head pastor. When this choice is rejected by some members they file a lawsuit in the local civil court.
Could this really happen??
That is exactly what happened in Houston, Texas at Christian Faith Missionary Baptist Church. In response, the judge called a meeting of the church membership to allow them to vote on committee members. When all “members” showed up, the judge decided she should instead have a formal hearing and issued an order requiring the parties to be in court in the next week.
Does this dispute really belong in a civil courtroom? On December 12, 2012, a Louisiana court ruled that a trial court has jurisdiction, i.e., the legal power to analyze a church’s articles of incorporation and to determine the criteria for church membership. Warner v. Collins, — So.3d —-, 2012 WL 6218173 (La.App. 4 Cir. 2012).
So what should a church do? The simple answer is to amend your Church articles of
incorporation & bylaws to place the dispute beyond outside the jurisdiction of the civil courts. A court’s jurisdiction can be eliminated through a concept called church autonomy doctrine. This doctrine prohibits civil court review of internal church disputes involving matters of faith, doctrine, church governance, and polity. Kedroff v. St. Nicholas Cathedral, 344 U.S. 94, 116-17, 73 S.Ct. 143, 97 L.Ed. 120 (1952). In other words, if a court has to read Scripture or interpret a statement of faith, the court will automatically throw out the lawsuit.
Keeping your church out of court is not only good for your health, it’s Scriptural. And the best method for implementing the church autonomy doctrine is to re-write the church bylaws to eliminate “statutory members”. Instead of relying on the legal definition of corporate membership, the church’s bylaws should define members as “Scriptural” or “Spiritual Members”.
Legal assistance is highly recommended in performing this drafting!
That is exactly what happened in Houston, Texas at Christian Faith Missionary Baptist Church. In response, the judge called a meeting of the church membership to allow them to vote on committee members. When all “members” showed up, the judge decided she should instead have a formal hearing and issued an order requiring the parties to be in court in the next week.
Does this dispute really belong in a civil courtroom? On December 12, 2012, a Louisiana court ruled that a trial court has jurisdiction, i.e., the legal power to analyze a church’s articles of incorporation and to determine the criteria for church membership. Warner v. Collins, — So.3d —-, 2012 WL 6218173 (La.App. 4 Cir. 2012).
So what should a church do? The simple answer is to amend your Church articles of
incorporation & bylaws to place the dispute beyond outside the jurisdiction of the civil courts. A court’s jurisdiction can be eliminated through a concept called church autonomy doctrine. This doctrine prohibits civil court review of internal church disputes involving matters of faith, doctrine, church governance, and polity. Kedroff v. St. Nicholas Cathedral, 344 U.S. 94, 116-17, 73 S.Ct. 143, 97 L.Ed. 120 (1952). In other words, if a court has to read Scripture or interpret a statement of faith, the court will automatically throw out the lawsuit.
Keeping your church out of court is not only good for your health, it’s Scriptural. And the best method for implementing the church autonomy doctrine is to re-write the church bylaws to eliminate “statutory members”. Instead of relying on the legal definition of corporate membership, the church’s bylaws should define members as “Scriptural” or “Spiritual Members”.
Legal assistance is highly recommended in performing this drafting!
| Scriptural Members | Corporate Members |
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The bottom line: Personally confirm what rights your church’s bylaws give to it “members”. If you want to avoid a secular court and judge, update those bylaws so that membership is defined by Scriptures and NOT by Arizona’s Corporate Code as interpreted by a judge/jury which does not share your faith!
Ridenour Hienton & Lewis can help you with the analysis.
Contact Bob at [email protected] and let them know Gary Kinnaman sent you.
(602) 744-5748
