Pastor Barry,
Although there are many cases where an Assembly of God church is
involved as a party to a lawsuit, extensive research reveals that only
a handful of these appear relevant to your situation
I have cited the case information below, as taken from legal databases
as well as general descriptions from newspaper accounts. I hope this
information will be useful to you and your counsel as the present
action in which you are involved moves forward.
If anything I am presenting below is unclear or requires elaboration,
please do not hesitate to post a Request for Clarification, and I will
be happy to assist you further.
And as a reminder...I am not a lawyer, and nothing here should be
construed as legal advice.
Good luck!
pafalafa-ga
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[A case that unfolded in Louisiana in the 1980's involves financial
commitments made by the pastor of the church, and is perhaps the most
pertinent to your current situation. It involved matters of church
hierarchy (who actually is in charge of the church) and ultimately
went to the state Supreme Court. I'm providing details of one of the
main decisions below, and citing other cases related to it, for your
information]
VICTORY TEMPLE ASSEMBLY OF GOD v. RAOUL GALAN, JR.
Nos. 86-CA-116, C/W, 86-CA-117, C/W, 86-CA-118
Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit
501 So. 2d 321; 1987 La. App. LEXIS 8513
January 12, 1987, Decided.
CASE SUMMARY
PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Intervenor sought review of an order of the
Twenty-Fourth Judicial District Court, Parish of Jefferson
(Louisiana), which granted summary judgment to plaintiff church in its
suit for a writ of mandamus directing defendant, a parish's recorder
of mortgages, to cancel a collateral mortgage signed by the church's
pastor that secured a promissory note issued in intervenor's favor by
the pastor.
OVERVIEW: A mortgage on church-owned land, signed by the church
pastor, was issued to intervenor as security for a promissory note
issued in his favor by the pastor. On the petition of the church, the
trial court granted it summary judgment in its suit to compel the
parish recorder of mortgages to cancel the mortgage from his records.
On appeal by intervenor, the court reversed and remanded the
proceedings. Explaining, the court said the underlying issue was the
authority of the pastor to encumber the property, title to which was
in the name of the church, by the collateral mortgage that he issued.
While issues surrounding the ecclesiastical affairs of the church
would require a court to defer, issues involving property would
require a court's involvement, the court said. Here, crucial issues of
material fact involving the confection of the mortgage, record title
at the time, and the pastor's relationship to the title owner at the
time of its confection had yet to be resolved. Because genuine issues
of material fact existed, the grant of summary judgment to the church
was improper and intervenor should be allowed to present his case in a
trial on the merits.
OUTCOME: The court reversed the trial court order granting the church
summary judgment and ordering the recorder of mortgages to erase the
collateral mortgage, and remanded the matter to the trial court for
further proceedings.
OPINION: [*322] This is a suspensive appeal from the granting of a
motion for summary judgment. Victory Temple Assembly of God,
plaintiff, filed a petition for a writ of mandamus directing Raoul
Galan, Jr., Recorder of Mortgages for the Parish of Jefferson,
defendant, to cancel and erase from the records of his office a
collateral mortgage, signed by Ralph Adams, in the amount of
$100,000.00 on three lots of ground over which plaintiff enjoys
ownership. Ralph R. [**2] Miller intervened as the encumbrance
sought to be removed secures a promissory note issued in his favor by
Adams. n1 Adams issued both instruments while acting in the professed
capacity of President/Pastor of Victory Temple Assembly of God. The
trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the plaintiff and
directed the defendant to cancel and erase the collateral mortgage.
Intervenor appealed.
[A footnote to the case includes some relevant information about the
relationship between the individual church and the regional council as
established by the charter and bylaws in use in Louisiana]:
Our initial opinion reported at 427 So.2d 662 addressed the efforts of
Adams and his family to control and operate the Victory Temple
Assembly of God Church. Following a lengthy hearing the district court
concluded the church was affiliated with [*323] and under the
administrative control of the Louisiana District Council of the
Assembly of God, Inc., and was not a separate entity. In affirming the
decision we noted that the church's corporate charter and the bylaws
of the Louisiana District Council clearly established a hierarchical
relationship and, because the First Amendment prohibits civil courts
from becoming entangled in essentially religious disputes, we deferred
to the highest authority of the hierarchical church organization.
[furthermore, the court notes;]
It is apparent to us that the issues addressed in our prior decisions
concerned Adams' effort to establish himself as supervising pastor,
and thus involved the ecclesiastical affairs of the church
association, requiring the court to defer to the highest authority of
hierarchical church organization. Therefore, we agree with intervenor
that neither the ownership of the property nor the validity of the
mortgage (which hinges on Adams' authority as of March 13, 1981 to
issue it) were raised or addressed. The latter is a distinct and
separate issue on which crucial issues of material fact involving the
confection of the mortgage, record title at the time, and Adams'
relationship to the title owner at the time of its confection [**5]
have yet to be resolved. Hence, in our view, summary judgment was
improperly granted. HN1Summary judgment should only be granted if the
pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on
file show there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the
mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Kerwin v. Nu-Way
Construction Service, Inc., 451 So.2d 1193 (5th Cir. 1984), writ
denied 457 So.2d 11 (La. 1984). Basic notions of fairness indicate
that intervenor be allowed to present his case in full at trial on the
merits.
[additionally]:
The original litigation began July 7, 1977, when the Louisiana
District Council of the Assemblies of God, Inc. filed suit against
Victory Temple, asserting administrative authority over Victory Temple
and asking that it be enjoined from resisting the exercise of this
administrative and supervisory control. (Louisiana District Council of
the Assemblies of God, Inc. v. Victory Temple Assembly of God,
Proceedings #202-438 "C", 24th Judicial [**7] District Court for the
Parish of Jefferson).
---------------------------------------
[other cases in this same chain of events]
--Victory Temple Assembly of God v. Galan, No. 87-C-0622, SUPREME
COURT OF LOUISIANA, 506 So. 2d 108; 1987 La. LEXIS 9169, May 15, 1987,
Decided
-- Louisiana Dist. Council of Assemblies of God, Inc. v. Victory
Temple Assembly of God, No. 65,899, Supreme Court of Louisiana, 377
So. 2d 126; 1979 La. LEXIS 7550, November 12, 1979
-- Victory Temple Assembly of God v. Galan, Nos. 86-CA-116, C/W,
86-CA-117, C/W, 86-CA-118, Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth
Circuit, 501 So. 2d 321; 1987 La. App. LEXIS 8513, January 12, 1987,
Decided, Rehearing Denied February 18, 1987.
--Louisiana Dist. Council of Assemblies of God, Inc. v. Victory Temple
Assembly of God, Nos. 10006, 9826, Court of Appeal of Louisiana,
Fourth Circuit, 376 So. 2d 169; 1979 La. App. LEXIS 2997, September
20, 1979
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The January 16, 1988 Los Angeles Times ran an article (Metro pg 5)
entitled: CHURCH COUNCIL SUES TO OUST ORANGE PASTOR. I cannot
reproduce the full article due to copyright restrictions, but I have
summarized it below].
A regional council of fundamentalist churches filed suit seeking to
freeze the assets of an Orange congregation and force its pastor out
of office.
The lawsuit was filed by the Southern California District Council of
the Assemblies of God Inc, against the Assembly of God of Olive in
Orange, .
The suit alleged that the pastor, Tim Waisanen, had been voted out of
office last November, but Waisanen refused to relinquish control of
the church, to stop holding services or to surrender church and
church-school bank accounts containing more than $90,000. According
to the suit, Waisanen failed to win endorsement of two-thirds of the
members of his congregation, and should have severed all connection
with the congregation but instead attempted to win additional support.
The council, at the request of one-third of the congregation,
appointed an interim pastor to replace Waisanen and announced it had
assumed control of the church.
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[The April 14, 1990 newspaper, The Modesto Bee, ran an article (page
B1) headlined: JUDGE KEEPS DENAIR CHURCH IN PASTOR'S HANDS. I cannot
reproduce the full article due to copyright restrictions, but I have
summarized it below].
Superior Court Judge Donald B. Cantwell issued an interim ruling in a
dispute over who should have possession of the church -- the pastor,
or the District Council of Assemblies of God, with whom King and some
members of his small congregation have been at odds. The ruling left
the Denair Assembly of God Church in the hands of the Rev. David King,
but prohibited him from locking out members of the church. The ruling
extended an earlier court decision that gave King temporary control
of the church.
The judge also barred the Northern California and Nevada District
Council and General Council of Assemblies of God from entering the
church and approaching within 100 yards of the property.
In a lawsuit filed in Stanislaus County Superior Court, King charged
physical harassment from church board members, following which he was
informed by the church district council that his credentials had been
suspended and that the council would take possession of the church
property. A counterclaim filed by the district council charges that
King and his supporters locked and chained the church doors to church
members, accosted church members, purged members from church rolls,
invaded church bank accounts and refused to account for the funds.
The dispute may have begun when church members found financial
irregularities in the church books which led to a petition signed by
19 people calling for district council intervention in the affairs at
the Denair Assembly of God Church.
Judge Cantwell is considering a request by the district council to
hold a membership meeting in the presence of the judge to determine
the makeup of the church board of directors and decide the future
direction of other church operations.
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[I mention this case, even though I do not have details available on
it, as it is a real property case involving church vs church, and may
be relevant...your lawyer should be able to find out additional
details on the case.]
U. S. District Court of Delaware (Wilmington)
CASE #: 92-CV-566
Christian Life v. Assemblies of God, et al
Filed: 09/25/92
Assigned to: Judge Murray M. Schwartz
Demand: $79,000
Nature of Suit: 290 [all other real property]
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[This last is actually a trademark infringement case, so is pretty far
afield of the topic you asked about. However, since it involves a
matter of fiscal responsibility, I thought I would include it just the
same.]
Assemblies of God v. Dorney, et al
U.S. District Court
Western District of Oklahoma (Oklahoma Cty)
CIVIL DOCKET FOR CASE #: 01-CV-1633
Filed: 10/17/01
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As I said earlier, if anything here requires elaboration, just let me
know. And again, best of luck. |
