Geiss v. Trinity Lutheran Church Congregation
| Decision Date | 09 May 1930 |
| Docket Number | 27248 |
| Parties | FRED GEISS ET AL., APPELLANTS, v. TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH CONGREGATION ET AL., APPELLEES |
| Court | Nebraska Supreme Court |
APPEAL from the district court for Cheyenne county: EARL L. MEYER JUDGE. Reversed, with directions.
REVERSED.
Syllabus by the Court.
A litigant may not invoke the aid of a court of equity and at the same time deny that it has jurisdiction to administer the character of relief for which he prays.
Where two church societies, each affiliated with and owing allegiance to a separate and distinct religious organization claim and assert title and right of possession to a church building and the lots on which it is situated, the ecclesiastical courts of neither organization has jurisdiction to determine the legal rights of the respective societies. Such a situation presents a case for determination by the civil courts.
Civil courts will exercise their jurisdiction to protect the property rights of religious societies, even though the one invading such rights may be a rival religious organization.
A religious society may, for its government, adopt a constitution, and its provisions will be binding upon the members of the society if not in conflict with law or contrary to public policy.
Where a religious society has acquired real estate for church purposes and adopted a constitution, which provides that the church property shall not be alienated so long as there remain three male members holding to the name of the congregation and recognizing the church government, it is not within the power of a bare majority of the congregation to alienate or transfer title to the church property to any other church society, when there are three or more male members who do not consent thereto, but who, in the language of the constitution, hold to the name of the congregation and recognize the church government.
Where individuals, who are members of a religious society, but not officers thereof, take title to real estate and hold it for the church society, they are mere naked trustees, and a conveyance made by them, without the consent of the society, conveys no title to the grantee, who had knowledge that the church society was the equitable owner thereof.
" Laches does not, like limitation, grow out of the mere passage of time; but it is founded upon the inequity of permitting the claim to be enforced--an inequity founded upon some change in the condition or relations of the property or the parties." Galliher v. Cadwell, 145 U.S. 368, 12 S.Ct. 873, 36 L.Ed. 738.
Mere delay, not exceeding the time limited by the statute, in bringing an action to cancel a deed and quiet title to real estate will not bar plaintiff from the relief sought, where defendant has not been prejudiced by such delay.
Appeal from District Court, Cheyenne County; Meyer, Judge.
Action by Fred Geiss and others against the Trinity Lutheran Church Congregation and others, in which the Board of Church Extension of General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States filed a cross-petition. From the judgment, plaintiffs appeal.
Reversed and remanded, with directions.
Kepler & Kratz, for appellants.
Radcliffe & Wehmiller, contra.
Heard before GOSS, C. J., ROSE, DEAN, GOOD, EBERLY and DAY, JJ., and WRIGHT, District Judge.
This is an action in equity, the primary object of which is to determine which of two religious societies has title and right of possession to a church edifice and the lots on which it stands, in the village of Dalton, Cheyenne county, Nebraska. There are other parties and other issues, to which reference will be made in the course of this opinion.
The action was brought by Evangelical Lutheran Trinity Congregation of Dalton and by certain individuals as members of said church organization, on behalf of themselves and all other members of the said society, and against Trinity Lutheran Church Congregation and the trustees of the latter organization, and also against certain individuals who had formerly held title to the lots in question. For convenience, the two church societies will be referred to as plaintiff and defendant, and the other parties to the action will be separately designated.
Plaintiff asks to have a certain deed of conveyance canceled and title to the church property quieted in it. For a defense defendant challenges the jurisdiction of the court, claims title by virtue of certain actions of the congregation, hereinafter referred to, and also alleges that plaintiff has been guilty of such laches as will prevent it from maintaining this action. Trial resulted in a decree quieting title to the property in the defendant and foreclosure of mortgages held by cross-petitioner. Plaintiffs have appealed.
There is but little conflict in the evidence, and it may be remarked at the outset that all of the witnesses who have testified on either side of the case have shown the utmost consideration and forbearance, each for the other, and have refrained from any show of bitterness or personal animosity that usually characterizes this kind of litigation. The fine spirit of fairness displayed by each party and its adherents is to be commended.
The record discloses that in 1913 a small number of individuals organized the plaintiff church society, adopted a name, and affiliated with the Nebraska Synod, which is a subordinate, affiliated organization of the General Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Three of the members, J. Frerichs Mintkin, Adolf Kunzie, and O. J. Willms, as a donation to the church organization, purchased three lots for a church site. Title was taken in their individual names for the benefit of the church. The members of the organization subscribed and raised funds, which, together with funds advanced by cross-petitioner Board of Church Extension of the General Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Church, were used to construct the church edifice. The building was completed in 1914. The constitution adopted by the plaintiff provided for the election of three trustees to have charge of the church property and administer its business affairs. Through neglect the title to the lots was never conveyed to plaintiff's official trustees. The congregation was small and undoubtedly unable to pay for and maintain a pastor to minister to it regularly. A pastor, of the same denomination, at another location, some 20 miles distant, was assigned to and held services in the new church ordinarily each alternate Sunday. It appears that sometimes this minister was unable to fill his regular appointments.
On January 2, 1920, at an annual meeting of the church congregation, the following proposition was voted upon: "Shall we leave this Synod and go to the Missouri Synod?" The Missouri Synod is an entirely distinct religious organization from that of the Nebraska Synod, operating under the General Synod. At this meeting four persons voted to go to the Missouri Synod; two, and perhaps three, voted against the proposition. There were other members of the church society not present, and some who were present but did not vote.
The constitution adopted by the plaintiff contained, among other things, the following: "All property in possession of this Congregation shall belong to it, and shall not be taken away nor craftily alienated so long as there remain three male members holding to the name of the Congregation and recognize this Church Government." The evidence disclose that at the time of the meeting in January, 1920, and ever since, there were and are more than three male members of the plaintiff, holding to the name of the congregation and who recognize its church government. The original members of the plaintiff who were not in favor of transferring their allegiance to the Missouri Synod apparently believed, at the time, that the vote taken was conclusive and had the effect of transferring plaintiff's church property to the defendant. Of the three individuals who had taken title to the church property for the plaintiff, two had removed from the vicinity and the third had died. In 1924 the defendant procured the signatures to a deed of the two surviving individuals and of the widow of the third individual who had formerly held title to the church property for the plaintiff. Later, the members of the plaintiff church who had remained loyal to its name and church government were informed that they had not lost title to the church property, but were entitled to its possession. They sought, without avail, to obtain, by peaceable means, possession and to regain title. In 1929 this action was instituted.
The defendant's objection that the court was without jurisdiction has little or no merit. Defendant in its answer asks affirmative relief. It prays to have the title to the church property quieted in it. It seeks the same character of relief as does the plaintiff. A litigant may not invoke the aid of a court and at the same time deny that it has jurisdiction to administer the character of relief for which he prays.
We think it is quite clear that the ecclesiastical courts could not have administered the relief desired. The Missouri Synod and the defendant church affiliated therewith were not subject to the jurisdiction of the Nebraska Synod or of the General Synod, with which the plaintiff...
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