Paradise Hills Church v. INTERNATIONAL CHURCH, ETC.
| Decision Date | 07 March 1979 |
| Docket Number | No. Civ. 78-644 Phx. WPC.,Civ. 78-644 Phx. WPC. |
| Citation | 467 F. Supp. 357 |
| Parties | PARADISE HILLS CHURCH, INC., Plaintiff, v. INTERNATIONAL CHURCH OF the FOURSQUARE GOSPEL, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Arizona |
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Burton M. Bentley of Bentley, Brandes & Brandes, P. C., Phoenix, Ariz., for plaintiff.
Paul G. Ulrich and Judith E. Sirkis of Lewis & Roca, Phoenix, Ariz., Farrand, Malti, Spillane & Cooper, San Francisco, Cal., for defendant.
In this action in which the Court's jurisdiction is based upon diversity of citizenship, plaintiff Paradise Hills Church, Inc. ("Paradise Hills Church") and defendant International Church of the Foursquare Gospel ("International Church") each claim exclusive ownership of property hereinafter referred to as the "Valley View Villas Property" which includes both real and personal property and to which the International Church acquired absolute title in November, 1972, and the "Wilson Property" conveyed by J. B. Wilson and Garnet A. Wilson in fee absolute to the International Church in December, 1976. The present dispute arose after the members of the Paradise Hills Foursquare Church withdrew from that church on April 30, 1978 and formed a new church, the plaintiff herein. The Paradise Hills Foursquare Church, unlike the plaintiff, is associated with the International Church.
Paradise Hills Church alleges several theories upon which to award it relief. In Count One the plaintiff seeks to reform the deeds to the Wilson Property based on mutual mistake. As to both the Wilson Property and the Valley View Villas Property, Paradise Hills Church asks that title be quieted in it and that title be transferred to it based on the law of fraud, constructive trust and resulting trust. The plaintiff additionally seeks an equitable accounting and punitive damages for wilful and malicious conduct. Defendant International Church in its counterclaim against the Paradise Hills Church and others requests the ejectment of the plaintiff, damages for conversion, a quiet title declaration as to the Valley View Villas Property and declarations as to its right to the personal property in dispute and the Wilson Property.
The International Church has sought to eliminate plaintiff's claims of ownership of the Valley View Villas Property by moving for summary judgment on Counts Three, Four, Six, and part of Counts Seven, Eight, Nine and Ten of the plaintiff's amended complaint. Paradise Hills Church has responded by moving to continue consideration of the International Church's motion for summary judgment for ninety days as well as by arguing the merits of the motion. The plaintiff has also moved for summary judgment on Count One of its amended complaint.
Plaintiff Paradise Hills Church states that it has been inundated with discovery material as a result of this Court's order compelling the International Church to produce evidence pursuant to certain requests for production of documents which might show either the absence or presence of fraud practiced by defendant International Church. See Paradise Hills Church, Inc. v. International Church of Foursquare Gospel, No. Civ. 78-644 Phx. (D. Ariz. Jan. 9, 1979). Paradise Hills Church concludes, therefore, that additional time is warranted to pursue every avenue of discovery that might lead to evidence of fraud. However, for there to be fraud, there must be some fraudulent representation made by the defendant to those involved in the transaction to acquire the Valley View Villas Property for the use of a Foursquare church. Paradise Hills Church, however, has identified no particular misrepresentation made by the International Church with regard to the acquisition of the Valley View Villas Property. Absent a statement or a misleading failure to disclose information, there can be no relief for fraudulent misrepresentation or nondisclosure. See generally, Nielson v. Flashberg, 101 Ariz. 335, 338, 419 P.2d 514, 517 (1966); Restatement (Second) Torts §§ 525 et seq. (1977).
An affidavit of Robert M. Brandes, attorney for the plaintiff, states that he spoke with Reverend and Mrs. Jerry Spencer of Sacramento, California, who stated that Mr. Courtney, an officer of the International Church, taught them that if two-thirds of a Foursquare congregation voted to leave the International Church that they could do so and keep their property. Whatever Mr. Courtney told the Spencers, though, is irrelevant to establishing what representations were made to those involved in the purchase of the Valley View Villas Property and the transfer of title to that property to the International Church.
None of the affidavits of Reverend May states she was taught that a local congregation could leave the International Church upon a vote and take the property that had been used by the local Foursquare church congregation. The deposition of Reverend May quoted by Paradise Hills Church in its supplemental memorandum filed in opposition to the defendant's motion for summary judgment indicates Reverend May had not thought about whether the International Church held property for a local congregation regardless of whether it was a Foursquare congregation, suggesting that there was no representation by the International Church which Reverend May can recall which could imply that members of a local Foursquare church could withdraw from the International Church and take with them the property they had used when members of the local Foursquare church. Furthermore, the basis for Reverend May's belief that a local congregation — presumably a Foursquare congregation — could obtain property used by them upon demand by a certain percentage of the congregation is based on thirty-three years of ministry, not specific statements made by the International Church in its articles of incorporation or bylaws, or through its officers or agents.
The failure to identify any instance of fraudulent misrepresentation or nondisclosure supported by affidavits of those involved in the transactions to acquire the Valley View Villas Property independent of the discovery to date indicates that additional discovery would not be specifically directed but rather more in the nature of a "fishing expedition" that would not produce relevant evidence of fraud given the discovery that has taken place to date. Thus the motion to continue consideration of the International Church's motion for summary judgment is denied.
Defendant International Church contends in its motion for summary judgment that the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel is a hierarchical church and that neutral principles of law apply which require granting its motion as a matter of law. The International Church is entitled to summary judgment only if being a hierarchical church or applying neutral principles of law constitutes a legally sufficient defense and there is no material factual dispute as to the applicability of the defense. See generally, Moore's Federal Practice ¶ 56.1711 (1976).
The two primary approaches that can constitutionally be used to resolve property disputes between a general, hierarchical church and a local church which is a part of the hierarchical church are identified here as the "deference-to-church-authority" principle and the "neutral principles of law" rule of which the "formal title" doctrine is the primary, if not exclusive, example. Most prior litigation has arisen in the context of title to church property being held by the local church or its agent. The practical effect has been that if civil courts opted for the first approach, property was found to be held for the benefit of the general church or subject to the rules and decisions of the general church. On the other hand, the formal title approach almost always produced the opposite outcome of finding ownership of the property in the local church. See McKeag, "The Problem of Resolving Property Disputes in Hierarchical Churches," 48 Pa.B.A.Q. 281, 286 (1977). See also Comment, "The Supreme Court, 1968 Term," 83 Harv.L.Rev. 7, 129 (1969). In the instant controversy, however, title is in the general church, and under either approach the outcome is the same — the plaintiff has alleged no legally cognizable basis upon which to premise its claim of ownership of the Valley View Villas Property.
The deference-to-church-authority approach to resolving church property disputes requires yielding to the ecclesiastical authority which, according to the rules and regulations of the hierarchical church, decides such matters. See The Serbian Eastern Orthodox Diocese v. Milivojevich, 426 U.S. 696, 709, 96 S.Ct. 2372, 2380, 49 L.Ed.2d 151 (1976) (); Maryland and Virginia Eldership of Churches of God v. Church of God at Sharpsburg, Inc., 396 U.S. 367, 369, 90 S.Ct. 499, 500, 24 L.Ed.2d 582 (1970) (Brennan, J., concurring) (). The deference-to-church-authority approach, in effect, precludes civil courts from reaching the merits of a property controversy and requires enforcement of the decision rendered by the highest ecclesiastical tribunal of the hierarchical church without regard to the principles or rules of law that might otherwise be employed by a civil court to resolve the property dispute.
The typical inquiry under the deference-to-church-authority approach requires determining whether a church has a hierarchical polity, whether the local church is a part of the hierarchical, general church, what the supreme adjudicatory body of the church is,...
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Skelton v. Word Chapel, Inc., CA-CIV
...we find that the trial judge correctly applied the law as to the facts of this case. See Paradise Hills Church, Inc. v. International Church of Foursquare Gospel, 467 F.Supp. 357 (D.Ariz.1979). We further find that he was within his jurisdiction in upholding the actions of this religious bo......