African Methodist Episcopal Church of Bridgeport v. Jenkins
| Decision Date | 20 January 1953 |
| Citation | 139 Conn. 418,94 A.2d 618 |
| Court | Connecticut Supreme Court |
| Parties | AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF BRIDGEPORT et al. v. JENKINS et al. Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut |
Arthur Klein, New Haven, with whom was Frederic M. Klein, New Haven, for appellants (defendants).
Huntley Stone, Bridgeport, for the appellees (plaintiffs).
Before BROWN, C. J., and JENNINGS, INGLIS and O'SULLIVAN, JJ.
O'SULLIVAN, Justice.
The African Methodist Episcopal Church of Bridgeport and its nine trustees brought this action against the Reverend J. J. Jenkins and the African Methodist Episcopal Church of the United States. The plaintiffs sought a judgment declaring that the defendant church has no rights in the property of the plaintiff church and enjoining both defendants from interfering with its activities. In addition to their answer and special defense, the defendants filed a cross-complaint requesting an injunction to restrain the plaintiffs not only from molesting the defendant Jenkins in exercising the functions of pastor of the plaintiff church but also from using the property as an independent church, free from the control, supervision and jurisdiction of the defendant church. The court rendered judgment for the plaintiffs on the complaint and cross-complaint, and from that judgment the defendants have appealed.
The defendant African Methodist Episcopal Church of the United States, hereinafter referred to as the General Church, was founded in 1816. Its history and organizational setup, as found by the trier, are described in a recent case. Independent Methodist Episcopal Church v. Davis, 137 Conn. 1, 4, 74 A.2d 203. They need not be here repeated at length. Suffice it to say that the polity of the church is not congregational but episcopal. 'Its hierarchy is developed in pyramidal pattern from the General Conference at the apex down through the bishops and various conferences to the local churches at the base.' 137 Conn. 12, 74 A.2d 209.
Other facts found are the following: On June 12, 1835, the land located at 393 Broad Street, Bridgeport, was conveyed to three individuals as trustees for a new society to be formed and known as the Colored Methodist Episcopal Ebenezer Church. The deed recited that the property was 'to be used and occupied by said Society as a place whereon to erect a Church for Public Worship, and to be used and occupied for that purpose and no other forever.' In 1843, the plaintiff church was incorporated under the name mentioned above. Shortly thereafter, the three trustees conveyed the property to the corporation. In 1850, the General Assembly changed the corporate name to the African Methodist Episcopal Church, of Bridgeport. 3 Spec.Laws 478. From here on, we shall call it the plaintiff.
Since 1870, the plaintiff has participated in the New England Annual Conference. One of these conferences was held on the Broad Street premises in 1900. The plaintiff has accepted the appointment by the bishop of the presiding elder and has furnished him with reports about the affairs of the church.
The discipline of the General Conference prescribes a form of deed for use by local churches when acquiring property, by the terms of which the property is to be held in trust for the use of the General Church in accordance with the discipline of that church. In 1946, the plaintiff acquired a parcel of land for a parsonage. No attempt was made to have the deed follow the prescribed form. Furthermore, mortgages were placed on the church property in 1897, 1903 and 1946. These conveyances bear the signatures of individuals acting as the plaintiff's agents or trustees, and nothing in the instruments indicates that they were executed pursuant to authority or permission obtained from the General Church.
It is provided in the discipline that a local church attains the status of a 'fullfledged member' of the General Church when the following requirements are fulfilled: (a) The persons organized as the local congregation express an intention and desire to become part of the General Church; (b) they then vote to submit the property and temporal affairs of their church organization to the control of the General Church, and this vote is reported by the authorized representative of the congregation to the annual conference, which thereafter takes action on the admission of the local church; (c) a ceremony of dedication is held at which...
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State v. Jones
...work an injustice ought to disturb a judgment rendered in substantial accord with principles of law.' African Methodist Episcopal Church v. Jenkins, 139 Conn. 418, 423, 94 A.2d 618, 620; Guilford v. Landon, 146 Conn. 178, 180, 148 A.2d 551; Felix v. Hall-Brooke Sanitarium, 140 Conn. 496, 50......
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...v. Dombrowski, 169 Conn. 85, 86, 362 A.2d 907; Trenchard v. Trenchard, 141 Conn. 627, 631, 109 A.2d 250; African Methodist Episcopal Church v. Jenkins, 139 Conn. 418, 423, 94 A.2d 618. The decision in this case depended in large measure upon the credibility which the court placed on the tes......
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Maloney v. Taplin
...to the plaintiff's case appears, the claimed error is not a sufficient ground for reversal. African Methodist Episcopal Church of Bridgeport v. Jenkins, 139 Conn. 418, 423, 94 A.2d 618; Linahan v. Linahan, 131 Conn. 307, 328, 39 A.2d 895. The remaining assignments of error have not been pur......
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...an injustice ought to disturb a judgment rendered in substantial accord with principles of law. African Methodist Episcopal Church of Bridgeport v. Jenkins, 139 Conn. 418, 423, 94 A.2d 618. The plaintiffs maintain that the court erred in dismissing their appeal, contending that the defendan......