Parish of the Advent v. Protestant Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts

• Decision Date: 17 December 1997
• Parties: The PARISH OF THE ADVENT v. The PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF MASSACHUSETTS & others. 1
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court

Page 923

688 N.E.2d 923

426 Mass. 268

The PARISH OF THE ADVENT v. The PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF MASSACHUSETTS & others.¹

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Suffolk.

Argued Jan. 7, 1997.

Argued Sept. 9, 1997.

Decided Dec. 17, 1997.

Stephen W. Howe, Boston, and Diane C. Tillotson, Boston, for the Protestant Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts & others.

Rory FitzPatrick (Phoebe S. Gallagher and William O. Rizzo, with him), Boston, for the Parish of the Advent.

Dennis M. Powers, pro se.

Before WILKINS, C.J., and ABRAMS, LYNCH, O'CONNOR, GREANEY, FRIED, MARSHALL and IRELAND, JJ.

MARSHALL, Justice.

This case concerns a protracted dispute between certain members of the corporation of the Parish of the Advent (Parish) on the one hand, and the remaining members of the corporation, members of the Parish vestry (vestry), the Parish rector, the Protestant Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts (Diocese), and the Massachusetts Diocesan bishop (bishop) on the other. The dispute was triggered when a majority of the members of the Parish corporation passed a vote of no confidence in the rector of the Parish at a special meeting in September, 1993.

In connection with this case we have granted two applications for direct appellate review. First, the defendants appealed from the order of a judge in the Superior Court, dated October 25, 1995, granting summary judgment and injunctive and declaratory relief in favor of the plaintiff. ² The order enjoined the implementation of a "godly judgment" issued by the bishop on December 7, 1994, that required all vestry members to resign before the expiration of their terms, and the election of new vestry members in accordance with procedures specified by the bishop.

Second, the plaintiff appealed from a later order of the same judge dated December 10, 1996, granting summary judgment and declaratory relief in favor of the defendants and from the separate and final judgment entered January 10, 1997. The second order declared that, in accordance with the Parish constitution and the constitution and canons of the Diocese, the corporation could not amend the Parish constitution without the authorization of the Diocese; that the new members of the vestry elected democratically in accordance with Diocesan canons ³ were the recognized representatives of the Parish under canon law, State law, and the Parish constitution, and had control of the day-to-day operations of the Parish; and that the Superior Court was without jurisdiction to decide whether thirteen members of the Parish corporation who had voted to withdraw from the Diocese and the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States (PECUSA) precluded them from serving as members of the Parish corporation.

We conclude that this dispute concerns a matter of internal church government within a hierarchical religious organization, "an issue at the core of ecclesiastical affairs." Serbian E. Orthodox Diocese for the U.S. & Can. v. Milivojevich, 426 U.S. 696, 721, 96 S.Ct. 2372, 2386, 49 L.Ed.2d 151 (1976). As such, the First and Fourteenth Amendments require that we accept as binding the interpretation of the constitution and canons of PECUSA and the Diocese by the bishop, the highest ecclesiastical authority for adjudicating these issues. See Serbian E. Orthodox Diocese, supra at 724-725, 96 S.Ct. at 2387-2388; Fortin v. Roman Catholic Bishop of Worcester, 416 Mass. 781, 785, 625 N.E.2d 1352 (1994). We further conclude that State law does not preclude a Massachusetts religious corporation from undertaking in its constitution to accede to the authority of a higher body concerning matters of church governance. We vacate the order of the Superior Court entered on October 25, 1996, and the order and final judgment entered on January 10, 1997, and order that the complaint be dismissed.

I

A

The following pertinent facts are undisputed or have been established by the defendants. PECUSA, established in 1789, ⁴ consists of ninety-five geographical dioceses, of which the Massachusetts Diocese is one, each presided over by a bishop, the ecclesiastical authority of the diocese. PECUSA is governed by a constitution and canons adopted at the general convention of the Church, the legislative body of PECUSA. All affiliated dioceses and local parishes are bound by PECUSA's constitution and canons.

Each diocese of PECUSA is comprised of a confederation of parishes located in its geographical area. Each diocese, in turn, has its own constitution and canons by which the diocese and each local parish are also bound. As the ecclesiastical authority within each diocese, it is the responsibility of the bishop to ensure that the affairs of each parish within the diocese are conducted in accordance with the canons and constitution of the diocese and of PECUSA. ⁵

Of relevance to this dispute, the constitution and the canons of the Massachusetts Diocese provide that a parish may be organized only with the consent of the bishop and the standing committee of the Diocese, ⁶ and only if the constitution and bylaws of the proposed parish have been approved by the bishop and the standing committee. To receive authorization, the constitution and bylaws of each parish must contain a statement acceding to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of PECUSA prescribed by its constitution and canons and by the constitution and canons of the Diocese. In short, through each diocese PECUSA exercises pervasive control over its constituent parishes.

We turn to describe the Parish, and the history of its relationship to the Diocese and PECUSA. The Parish was founded in 1844. Although the Parish was one of the first churches in this country to embrace the Anglo-Catholic movement, and was one of the first to abandon the mandatory requirement of pew rents as a means of support, since its inception the Parish has been affiliated with PECUSA and the Diocese, adhering to their respective constitutions and canons. Prior to its establishment, and as mandated by PECUSA, the founders sought and received the permission of PECUSA to incorporate as a parish of the Diocese and to hold worship services. ⁷ It is not disputed that, from its inception until this dispute arose in 1993, the Parish adhered to the constitutions and canons of the Diocese and PECUSA, respectively. The Parish regularly sent delegates to the annual Diocesan conventions, see note 5, supra, and regularly accepted appointments to various permanent bodies and positions within the Diocese. Consistent with the constitutions of the Diocese and PECUSA, the Parish has always been financially self-sufficient, ⁸ and has always complied with all the required financial and other reporting requirements imposed by the canons of PECUSA and the Diocese. The members of the Parish corporation ⁹ elect the rector for the Parish subject to consultation with the bishop. See Canon 15 of the Canons of the Diocese.

Until 1960, the constitution of the Parish had not been amended in any significant respect. ¹⁰ In 1960, an occasion arose that resulted in an amendment to art. I of the Parish constitution that is central to our inquiry. In April of that year, the Parish corporation voted to amend art. III of the Parish constitution that related to the geographical requirements for membership in the Parish corporation. ¹¹ Under the terms of the Diocesan constitution then, as now, the Parish was required to submit any proposed amendment of its constitution to the bishop and the standing committee of the Diocese for authorization. ¹² The Parish corporation did so, without question or controversy. The bishop and the standing committee of the Diocese granted their authorization to the proposed amendment, subject, however, to one important consideration. As described above, at some time after its founding, PECUSA and the Diocese concluded by canonical mandate that the constitution and bylaws of each local parish should provide explicitly that every parish accede to the "doctrine, discipline and worship and the constitution and canons" of PECUSA and the Diocese. Because the constitution of the Parish predated this canonical requirement, the original constitution did not contain this explicit reference. In 1960, the bishop and the standing committee of the Diocese, accordingly, informed the Parish corporation that the authorization of the proposed amendment to art. III would be forthcoming if the following amendment to art. I of the Parish constitution were adopted:

"The name of this corporation shall be the 'Parish of the Advent'; and its objects are to secure to a portion of the City of Boston the ministrations of the Holy Catholic Church, and more especially to secure the same to the poor and needy, in a manner free from unnecessary expense and all ungracious circumstances; and for this purpose this Parish accedes to the Doctrine, Discipline, and Worship and the Constitution and Canons of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, and to the Constitution and Canons of the Protestant Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, and acknowledges their authority" (emphasis supplied). ¹³

The standing committee of the Diocese informed the Parish corporation that the change was required to ensure that "the authority ... of the Diocese is acknowledged. The [Parish] Constitution being an ancient one does not comply with this standard." The required amendment to the Parish constitution was duly considered by the Parish corporation and, in April, 1961, the Parish corporation amended art. I of the Parish constitution, making explicit its accession to the authority of the Diocese and PECUSA. ¹⁴

B

The present controversy between some members of the corporation and the majority of the Parish communicants and the Diocese began in September, 1993, following disputes between the then Parish rector, Reverend Andrew C. Mead, and certain (but not all) corporation members. A bare majority passed a vote of "no-confidence" in the rector at...