New York Annual Conference of United Methodist Church v. Fisher

• Citation: 438 A.2d 62,182 Conn. 272
• Parties: NEW YORK ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF the UNITED METHODIST CHURCH et al. v. Everett FISHER et al.
• Decision Date: 19 August 1980
• Court: Supreme Court of Connecticut

Page 62

438 A.2d 62

182 Conn. 272

NEW YORK ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF the UNITED METHODIST CHURCH et al. v. Everett FISHER et al.

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

Argued June 12, 1980.

Decided Aug. 19, 1980.

James F. Stapleton, Hartford, with whom was Allan B. Taylor, Hartford, for appellants-appellees (plaintiffs).

James R. Fogarty, Stamford, with whom on the brief, were Robert A. Epstein and James J. Huron, Stamford, for appellees-appellants (named defendant et al.).

Before COTTER, C. J., and BOGDANSKI, PETERS, HEALEY and PARSKEY, JJ.

PETERS, Associate Justice.

This case involves a dispute over the ownership of church property arising out of a disagreement about the withdrawal of a local church from its prior affiliation with a hierarchical church organization.

New York Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church and its resident bishop, W. Ralph Ward, Jr., brought this action against the Round Hill Community Church, Inc., of Greenwich and six individual defendants ¹ for a declaratory judgment and other legal and equitable relief to determine their interest in the church property, and to enjoin the defendants from interference with the conduct of church services by a duly appointed Methodist minister and from use of church property for purposes not authorized by the church hierarchy. The defendants counterclaimed seeking, inter alia, a declaratory judgment that Round Hill Community Church, Inc., owns the disputed property and an ancillary injunction to enjoin the plaintiffs from interfering with the defendants' installation of a locally appointed non-Methodist minister. Following a lengthy trial, the trial court, Berdon, J., rendered judgment for the defendants without ruling on the defendants' claims of waiver, estoppel, unjust enrichment and unclean hands. From that judgment the plaintiffs have appealed and the named defendant et al. have cross-appealed. ²

The underlying facts, found in the memorandum of decision and other material uncontested parts of the proceedings at trial; Pandolphe's Auto Parts, Inc. v. Manchester, 181 Conn. 217, 221-22, 435 A.2d 24 (1980); establish the following: A local church having a hierarchical relationship with the United Methodist Church ³ was begun in the Round Hill area of Greenwich in the early part of the nineteenth century. Known as the Round Hill Methodist Episcopal Church, it was first located, in 1828, on property deeded in trust to the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1827. Subsequently, in 1871, the church acquired other property from William S. Brown, again in trust for the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which the church sanctuary was then moved, the original parcel becoming a cemetery for the congregation.

In the early part of this century, the Round Hill Methodist Episcopal Church was a struggling country church with a declining membership. From 1907 to 1913, the church may have been temporarily closed and was at least inactive. The Reverend Harold E. Wilson, a Methodist minister and a member of the New York East Annual Conference ⁴ was appointed in 1919 by the Methodist bishop to serve as a part-time "supply" pastor to the church at Round Hill. At the request of the congregation, the Reverend Wilson was, after two years of service, appointed as its full-time pastor.

On February 14, 1921, eleven individuals who constituted the official board of the Round Hill Methodist Episcopal Church met at the church in order to organize a community church. The minutes of that meeting provided in part: "A Motion was made and seconded that the Round Hill Methodist Church be made a Community Church. A committee to look after the By Laws of the Community church discussed, the move (sic) was made and seconded that Rev. H. Wilson, Mr. Huyler and Mr. Marshall be the committee.... It was voted that Rev. Wilson see Rev. Rogers, pastor of the North Greenwich Congregational church, and have a talk with him about joining their church with ours." The North Greenwich Congregational Church did eventually merge with the Round Hill church.

From 1921 onwards, the church formerly known as the Round Hill Methodist Episcopal Church became known as the Round Hill Community Church (hereinafter Round Hill). The significance of this change is the central issue in the case before us. On the one hand, Round Hill never voted to abandon the Methodist Church, and continued, until 1978, to occupy Methodist Church property, to be led by Methodist ministers and to pay Methodist assessments. Neither Reverend Wilson nor the members of the official board of the church took any steps to withdraw their individual memberships in the Methodist Annual Conference. On the other hand, Round Hill, after 1921, held itself out as a community church on its corporate affairs ⁵ and in its relationship to the community. The ambiguity of the action taken in 1921 is reflected in the later official documents of the Round Hill Church, which note that the church became a community church "(w)hile not actually severing its connection with the Methodist Episcopal denomination."

As a community church, Round Hill prospered. It acquired substantial amounts of real property, title to which was taken either in the name of Round Hill Community Association, Inc., or in the name of trustees for the Round Hill Community Church or Round Hill Community Church, Inc. Round Hill has also since 1921 accumulated substantial endowment, retirement and miscellaneous funds.

In the years between 1921 and 1978, the ministers at Round Hill were all Methodists. Reverend Wilson's successors were selected by Round Hill and appointed by the bishops of the Methodist Church. The present controversy arose when, in 1978, the Round Hill congregation voted to appoint, as pastor of Round Hill, the Reverend Alvin Brewer, a Congregational minister. The Methodist Church, acting through Bishop Ward, attempted unsuccessfully to designate and install a Methodist minister, Reverend Hansen, in place of Reverend Brewer. The plaintiffs claim that the defendants' insistence upon a minister who is not a Methodist means that the defendants have now in effect withdrawn from the Methodist Church and have forfeited their right to use or take church property which is subject to a Methodist trust. The defendants deny the continued existence of a Methodist trust, claiming that Round Hill is and has been since 1921 a nondenominational community church, independent of the Methodist Church.

The trial court, after satisfying itself that the procedural requirements for an action for a declaratory judgment had been met, addressed and resolved a number of issues. First, the court concluded that its exercise of authority to determine the present controversy would not contravene constitutional prohibitions against civil entanglement in ecclesiastical disputes. Second, the court concluded that Round Hill was independent in polity, name and finances from the Methodist Church, despite the relationship with the Methodist Church that continued to exist because Round Hill ministers were Methodists. In conjunction with this conclusion, the court rejected the plaintiffs' argument that they had no knowledge of the actions of the Round Hill congregation, finding both imputed knowledge because of the knowledge of Methodist ministers as agents of the Methodist Church and actual knowledge on the part of others in the Methodist hierarchy. Third, the court concluded that Round Hill had full rights to all of the property used by the church, a direct right to property deeded to its after 1921, and a right arising out of adverse possession and laches to property whose record title ran to trustees for the Methodist Church. On these bases, the court granted declaratory and injunctive relief to the defendants. The court declined to consider the defendants' claims that the plaintiffs were also barred from recovery by waiver, estoppel, unclean hands and unjust enrichment.

On this appeal, the plaintiffs challenge as error the trial court's second conclusion, that Round Hill is a church independent of the Methodist Church, and the trial court's third conclusion, that Round Hill has title to and the right to control all of the real and personal property that is the subject matter of this litigation. The defendants, in their cross appeal, claim that the trial court erred when it concluded that it was unnecessary to consider the defenses of waiver, of estoppel, of unclean hands, and of unjust enrichment. We will consider each of these contentions seriatim.

I

Before we proceed to the merits of these issues, we must review, as did the trial court, what authority we may constitutionally exercise, as a civil court, to adjudicate property disputes involving autonomous ecclesiastical organizations. The first and fourteenth amendments to the United States constitution protect freedom of religion by forbidding governmental establishment of religion and by prohibiting governmental interference with the free exercise of religion. It is now well established that "the First Amendment severely circumscribes the role that civil courts may play in resolving church property disputes." Presbyterian Church v. Mary E. B. Hull Memorial Presbyterian Church, 393 U.S. 440, 449, 89 S.Ct. 601, 606, 21 L.Ed.2d 658 (1969); Jones v. Wolf, 443 U.S. 595, 602, 99 S.Ct. 3020, 3025, 61 L.Ed.2d 775 (1979); Serbian Eastern Orthodox Diocese v. Milivojevich, 426 U.S. 696, 724-25, 96 S.Ct. 2372, 2387-2388, 49 L.Ed.2d 151 (1976); Maryland & Virginia Churches v. Sharpsburg Church, 396 U.S. 367, 368, 90 S.Ct. 499, 500, 24 L.Ed.2d 582 (1970) (Brennan, J., concurring). In language often quoted, it was held, in Watson v. Jones, 80 U.S. (13 Wall.) 679, 728-29, 20 L.Ed. 666 (1871): ⁶ "In this country the full and free right to entertain any religious belief, to practice any religious principle, and to teach any religious doctrine which does not violate the laws of morality and property, and which does not infringe personal rights, is...