Redfern v. Church of Mediator in Providence, 17
| Decision Date | 08 July 1966 |
| Docket Number | No. 17,17 |
| Parties | Alden REDFERN et al. v. The CHURCH OF the MEDIATOR IN PROVIDENCE et al. Appeal |
| Court | Rhode Island Supreme Court |
This bill in equity is brought by certain members of the Church of the Mediator in Providence, a religious and charitable corporation organized in and under the laws of this state and hereinafter referred to as 'the church.' The respondents are the church, its minister, and its officers and trustees. The cause is before us on the complainants' appeal from a decree of the superior court sustaining certain objections made by the respondents to a report filed by Frank B. Frederick, Esquire.
The litigation has its origin in a longstanding dispute among the members of the church who differ as to how its affairs shall be conducted. The bill seeks an accounting of the receipts and expenses of the church and a detailed statement of its financial condition, an order enjoining the respondent minister from admitting to membership in the church 'any person who is ineligible by reason of the fact that he or she does not believe in the traditions and tenets of the Universalist religion,' an injunction against the call of a meeting for the purpose of approving the sale of certain church assets, and the appointment of some person or persons by the court to examine the roll and to determine who among them was eligible to vote at church meetings. Coincident with the commencement of the proceedings respondents were restrained pending further order of the court in accordance with the prayers of the bill.
When the cause was reached for hearing on preliminary injunction a consent decree was entered and the restraining order then in effect was modified in the following particulars. Meetings of the membership and of the congregation were authorized to be called by Mr. Frederick, the general counsel of the Unitarian Universalist Association, so that those members of the church qualified to vote under its constitution could pass on questions relating to the retention of the respondent minister in office, the discontinuance of these proceedings, and the authorization of the sale of certain securities owned by the church in an amount not in excess of $11,000. In addition, authority was conferred upon Mr. Frederick to preside at the meetings and to determine which of the church members were eligible to vote thereat.
In due course the meetings were held and thereafter Mr. Frederick reported to the court that a majority of those determined by him to be qualified voters were opposed to retaining the minister, to discontinuing the proceedings and to selling the securities. He also reported that the results might be otherwise if on review the court were to differ with his conclusions as to voter eligibility.
Within thirty days of the filing of that report respondents lodged their objection in the superior court and after extended hearings a justice of that court determined that twelve of the twenty-two members ruled by Mr. Frederick to be ineligible to vote were in fact qualified voters. When Mr. Frederick's tabulation of the results of the voting was adjusted to reflect the inclusion of the votes of those twelve, the vote on each question was contrary to that originally reported by him. The retabulation and the findings upon which they...
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Mendes v. Mendes
...McAuslan v. McAuslan, 34 R.I. 462, 83 A. 837; Montaquila v. Montaquila, 85 R.I. 447, 133 A.2d 119; Redfern v. Church of Mediator in Providence, 101 R.I. 182, 221 A.2d 453. Consequences become 'injurious,' in the sense in which we use that term, when their occurrence is imminent and the dama......
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Henderson v. Henderson
...before the case has finally terminated in order to prevent possible injurious consequences." Id. (citing Redfern v. Church of the Mediator, 101 R.I. 182, 185, 221 A.2d 453, 455 (1966)). This Court will review such interlocutory orders, however, only when the petitioner has filed a petition ......
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Eidam v. Eidam
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DeMaria v. Sabetta, 77-90-A
...case by this court. E. g., Maloney v. Daley, supra; Giarrusso v. Corrigan, 108 R.I. 471, 276 A.2d 750 (1971); Redfern v. Church of the Mediator, 101 R.I. 182, 221 A.2d 453 (1966). One exception to this general rule is legislatively created and allows an appeal from an interlocutory decree w......