Church of the First Born of Tenn., Inc. v. Slagle
| Decision Date | 13 June 2017 |
| Docket Number | No. M2014-01605-COA-R3-CV,M2014-01605-COA-R3-CV |
| Parties | CHURCH OF THE FIRST BORN OF TENNESSEE, INC. v. TOM SLAGLE, ET AL. |
| Court | Tennessee Court of Appeals |
Appeal from the Chancery Court for Trousdale County
Charles K. Smith, Chancellor
A dispute among members of a church arose over control of the church. One group of members incorporated and then filed suit against individual members of the church seeking to quite title to certain real property. The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment. In granting the individual church members' motion and denying the corporation's motion, the trial court found the church to be congregationally governed with a clear and established practice for handling real property transactions. We conclude that the corporation lacked standing to bring the action and that the corporation's case should be dismissed on that basis. Therefore, we reverse.
Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Chancery Court Reversed and Case Remanded
W. NEAL MCBRAYER, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which ANDY D. BENNETT and RICHARD H. DINKINS, JJ., joined.
Larry L. Crain, Brentwood, Tennessee, and Joshua R. Denton and D. Hiatt Collins Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Church of the First Born of Tennessee, Inc.
Joe M. Haynes, Goodlettsville, Tennessee; Keith Jordan, Nashville, Tennessee; and J. Thomas Smith, Franklin, Tennessee, for the appellees, Tom Slagle, Billy H. Ray, Jon James, Kelvin Gregory, Chester H. Cole, Earl B. Thompson, Gary Kelley, Roger Ray, Evelyn H. Cole, and Michael Spears.
OPINIONIn 1933, Prator Donald "P.D." Hardin formed the Church of the Firstborn1 (the "Church"), acting as its first elder/overseer. As elder/overseer, he served as the pastor and spiritual leader of the Church.
P.D. Hardin led the construction of the Church's first building in New Deal, Sumner County, Tennessee, in 1936. During that same time period, a Church congregation also met at Hartsville in Trousdale County. Later Church congregations would meet in Portland in Sumner County and Nashville in Davidson County. But, by the 1980s, the Church had only two locations: Hartsville in Trousdale County and White House in Robertson County.
Outside of spiritual matters, governance of the Church, an unincorporated association, could best be described as informal. Trustees held title to real property owned by the Church and executed documents on behalf of the Church. A board of deacons handled many of the business and temporal affairs of the Church. Historically, the elder/overseer selected deacons, but the manner for selection of trustees is a matter of dispute. Although P.D. Hardin allegedly drafted bylaws for the Church, the precise role of deacons and, to a lesser extent, the trustees in the Church is also disputed.
P.D. Hardin remained as elder/overseer of the Church until his death on September 19, 1983. Before his passing, he selected his nephew, Bob C. Hardin, to succeed him. During Bob Hardin's tenure as the elder/overseer, the Church began construction of a private Christian school on land in Robertson County adjoining the White House sanctuary. The school, which was named Dayspring Academy, opened in August 2006.
Bob Hardin died in 2008 without naming a successor elder/overseer. He had, however, ordained Robbie Kline to be the pastor of the Hartsville congregation and Roger Brewer to be the pastor of the White House congregation. At Bob Hardin's death, the board of deacons had seven members: John Edward Andrews, Mickey Andrews, Kelvin Gregory, Jon James, Billy H. Ray, Tom Slagle, and Earl B. "Brownie" Thompson.
After Elder Bob Hardin's death in 2008, disagreements arose amongst the Church's members. The underlying basis for the disagreements is itself a matter of dispute. Some members claim that the dispute centers over "the Church's doctrinal position on the sacrament of baptism and its twenty-year long practice of using a Hebrew version of the name of God as a central tenant." Others trace the disagreements to Dayspring Academy and the "substantial and continuing costs of subsidizing" its operation.
Though the precise timeline is unclear, dissension grew, and the members chose sides. Certain members, including deacons, who formerly worshipped at White House moved their attendance to Hartsville. The minutes of the March 13, 2010, meeting of the deacons reflect the tensions between those attending services in White House and those attending services in Hartsville.
During the meeting, which was held in White House, the chairman of the deacons, Tom Slagle, complained that Church members who attended in Hartsville were being asked to leave the premises in White House. After commenting that the Church had no leader, he advocated for the "deacons to take charge" and "to put all this to rest." The minutes reflect that the deacons voted "to take control of all functions of the Church of the Firstborn."
Mr. Slagle sent a letter to Roger Brewer, pastor at White House, advising him of the vote of the deacons. The letter, dated March 13, 2010, stated that the deacons would assume control of the following functions of the Church, "just to name a few":
But the disagreements continued.
At the board of deacons meeting on Saturday, August 7, 2010, the deaconsdiscussed a meeting in Hartsville the previous Sunday. As relayed by the deacons, members worshipping in Hartsville expressed concerns about the Church's finances, the funding of Dayspring Academy, unmet needs in Hartsville, and their lack of input on spending. Some members wanted to separate the offerings from Hartsville and White House, and some objected to their offerings being used to fund Dayspring Academy. Concerns also included the divisions between White House and Hartsville and a rumor that the Church might sell the Hartsville sanctuary to raise revenue.
The deacons also discussed declining Church revenues and the differences among members of the Church. To address the financial concerns, the deacons debated cutting costs at or possibly closing Dayspring Academy. The minutes reflect that Mr. Slagle declared that "We will not save both; it is save the church or save the school." Another deacon indicated that the Church's problems were "spiritual," and some of the deacons suggested that the pastors, Robbie Kline in Hartsville and Roger Brewer in White House, needed to get together.
The same day as the deacons' meeting, Pastor Brewer circulated a three-point statement of faith and requested that it be signed to indicate assent to upholding the Church's "doctrine." Some versions of the statement of faith included the following sentence: "We do not and will not accept or fellowship any other plan of salvation or any other baptism formula." Deacons Ed and Mickey Andrews signed a version of the statement of faith that included the quoted sentence, but the remaining five deacons did not. Also among those failing to sign the statement of faith was the Church secretary and daughter of P.D. Hardin, Evelyn H. Cole.
The following Wednesday, Pastor Brewer gave a sermon in White House. The sermon addressed people who had "stop[ped] putting their money in the offering plate." In the sermon, Pastor Brewer also stated as follows:
A few days later, Mr. Slagle sent two letters on behalf of the board of deacons. The first letter, directed solely to Pastor Brewer, demanded that he stop circulating the statement of faith. In the letter, Mr. Slagle complained that a majority of the deacons had not seen the statement of faith before it was circulated. He also claimed to be in possession of "the original bylaws of the Church of the Firstborn written by Brother [P.D.] Hardin" and suggested that Pastor Brewer's statement of faith could constitute a violation of those bylaws.
The second letter, directed to Pastor Brewer and Pastor Kline, referred to "a crisis that affects all of us as members" and referenced the possibility of "dissolution." The letter advised that an attorney had been hired "to advise us through a mediation process that will reach an amicable resolution." The letter included a proposed "AGREEMENTFOR MEDIATION AND ARBITRATION." If the mediation proved unsuccessful, the agreement committed the signatories to binding arbitration of the conflict.
Pastor Kline, along with Deacons Slagle, Ray, Thompson, Gregory, and James, signed the AGREEMENT FOR MEDIATION AND ARBITRATION. Pastor Brewer and Deacons Ed and Mickey Andrews did not.
Despite the disagreements, all seem to acknowledge November 21, 2010, as the date that the Church split. Prior to that date, Pastor Brewer decided that the Church's leadership could not include members that had not signed his statement of faith. So he nominated a new slate of deacons and a new Church secretary. On November 21, members attending in White House voted to "affirm" Pastor Brewer's nominees for board of deacons and Church secretary.
Also on November 21, and at least partially in response to the vote in White House, Mr. Slagle, who was by then attending services in Hartsville, presented the members there the bylaws purportedly written by P.D. Hardin. Members present signed a statement ratifying the bylaws, which were described as "the foundation of the Church of the Firstborn as it was established in its beginning."
"And it must follow, as the night the day,"2 the split raises the question of control over the...
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