Brunnenmeyer v. Buhre

Citation1863 WL 3170,32 Ill. 183
PartiesJOHN A. BRUNNENMEYER et al.v.ERNEST H. BUHRE et al.
Decision Date30 April 1863
CourtIllinois Supreme Court
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

ERROR to Court of Common Pleas of Aurora.

This was an injunction bill filed by defendants in error against plaintiffs in error, trustees and members of the German Evangelical Lutheran St. Paul's Church, of Aurora, to restrain them from interfering with the complainants and members of said church in their assembling and worship, by fastening up the church building and excluding them therefrom. The bill alleged the incorporation of the church under the statute in January, 1856; the election and qualification of Brunnenmeyer and others of the defendants, as trustees thereof; the conveyance to said trustees and their successors, for the sole use of said church of a lot; the erection of a church edifice thereon, in 1855, by means of donations from the membership and the community, for the sole purpose of public religious worship, as prescribed by the Evangelical Lutheran Church; the membership of complainants with said particular church; the refusal of said trustees to discharge their duties and the trusts with which they were clothed; and the fastening up of said edifice by said trustees and the other defendants, members of the said church, thereby purposely excluding complainants therefrom, etc.

The answer of the defendants justified the closing of the building as having been done by virtue of the vote to that effect, referred to in the opinion of the court.

The chapters of the church discipline referred to by the court are as follows: “CHAPTER I. 1. Only such person can be minister who adheres to the above named confession, and who is properly ordained.

2. In all meetings of the church council and congregation, it shall be his duty to preside.

3. He shall examine all who shall wish to become members of this society, and he shall either receive or reject them.

4. He shall continue his office as long as he lives.

CHAPTER II. 1. The church council consists of the minister, elders, stewards and trustees. The elders, stewards and trustees shall continue in office until others are elected in their places.

2. The church council holds regular meetings at fixed times; it may, however, at any time be called together by the minister.

3. They shall, in brotherly love, counsel over the spiritual and general welfare of the society.

4. In absence of the minister, one of the elders shall preside.

CHAPTER V. The society elects three trustees, in the same manner as elders and stewards. They shall take the temporal affairs of the church in safe keeping.

CHAPTER VI. All those shall be considered members of the church who, according to the custom of the Lutheran church, have been received by baptism and confirmation. As legal members they must take part in the public worship, and, according to the usage of the church, give their part to its support; they must live in conformity with the requirements of the gospel, and, by signing the church discipline, declare that they will uphold and sustain the Lutheran church, with its doctrine and usages All such male members who have become of age shall be considered qualified to vote at each election in the society.”

The decree below was for the complainants as prayed in the bill.

Metzner & Wheaton, for plaintiffs in error.

R. G. Montony, for defendants in error.

WALKER, J.

The statute1 declares that the title of real estate, held by trustees for the use of an incorporated religious society, shall vest in them by the assumed corporate name. They become seized for the use of the body. And each member of the church becomes entitled to a beneficial interest in the property of the church, so long as his or her connection or membership continues. The trustees chosen by the organization are, for convenience, vested with the legal title for its control and management, in its enjoyment by the body. They have no power to pervert it, or prevent it from being used for the purposes of its original design. Nor can a majority of the members of the church control the action of the trustees, against the usuages and regulations of the church. Their power is not arbitrary nor is it discretionary, but it is subordinate to the customs and rules of the organization.

By the election which organized the corporation, the title became vested in the trustees and their successors, for the use of the trust, as completely as if the use had been declared by deed. And whenever they perform any act which obstructs the enjoyment of the property for the purposes and in the mode authorized by the usages of the church as an organized body, they are guilty of a violation of the trust which requires correction. A trust of this character is not distinguishable in this from any other trust, over which courts of chancery exercise a supervisory power. They hold the property for the use of beneficiaries, and the utmost good faith is required in the performance of their...

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13 cases
  • Lewis v. Brubaker
    • United States
    • Missouri Supreme Court
    • March 2, 1929
    ... ... Mott v. Morris, 249 Mo. 137; Perry v. McEwen, 22 Ind. 440; Scott v. Stipe, 12 Ind. 74; Brunnenmeyer v. Buhre, 32 Ill. 183; Avery v. Baker, 27 Neb. 388; Cape Trustees v. Plymouth Church, 130 Wis. 174; First Methodist Church v. Dixon, 178 Ill. 260 ... ...
  • Lewis v. Brubaker
    • United States
    • Missouri Supreme Court
    • March 2, 1929
    ... ... Mott v ... Morris, 249 Mo. 137; Perry v. McEwen, 22 Ind ... 440; Scott v. Stipe, 12 Ind. 74; Brunnenmeyer v ... Buhre, 32 Ill. 183; Avery v. Baker, 27 Neb ... 388; Cape Trustees v. Plymouth Church, 130 Wis. 174; ... First Methodist Church v ... ...
  • Jackson v. CALLAN PUB., INC.
    • United States
    • United States Appellate Court of Illinois
    • February 28, 2005
    ... ... , at least taxpayers who are beneficiaries of a trust created for the benefit of the public, have the right and standing to enforce it); Brunnenmeyer v. Buhre, 32 Ill. 183 (1863) (a charitable trust for members of a church is enforceable by them); Home for Destitute Crippled Children v. Boomer, ... ...
  • State ex rel. Harris v. Laughlin
    • United States
    • Missouri Supreme Court
    • April 30, 1882
  • Request a trial to view additional results

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