Russie v. Brazzell

• Decision Date: 30 March 1895
• Citation: 128 Mo. 93,30 S.W. 526
• Parties: RUSSIE et al. v. BRAZZELL et al.
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

30 S.W. 526

128 Mo. 93

RUSSIE et al. v. BRAZZELL et al.

Supreme Court of Missouri, Division No. 1.

March 30, 1895.

RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES — CONSTITUTION — AMENDMENT — CHANGE OF CONFESSION OF FAITH — ELECTION — COLLATERAL ATTACK.

1. A constitution of religious society, adopted by the general conference and acquiesced in for 40 years, although never having been submitted to or ratified by the people, and never fully recognized by the body of the church, constitutes the paramount law of the society, and

can be changed or repealed only as provided by the constitution itself, and not by the conference or legislative body by which it was adopted.

2. A provision "that there shall be no alteration of the foregoing constitution, unless by request of two-thirds of the whole society," in the original constitution of a religious society adopted when the membership was small, and largely confined to a particular locality, and which prescribed no method of obtaining the consent or of proposing amendments, in view of its greatly increased and widely spread membership, requires only that changes should not be made without the consent of two-thirds of the members; and is substantially complied with by the preparation of an amended constitution by a commission pursuant to resolutions of the general conference, and its submission to a vote of the members under methods adopted by the commission, and by a report of the vote, and its adoption by the general conference, and its proclamation by the presiding bishop as the constitution of the church.

3. A resolution of the general conference of a religious society whose original constitution provided that no amendment thereof should be made except upon the request or consent of two-thirds of the whole society, declaring that an affirmative vote of those voting should be taken as a request of two-thirds of all the members, is conclusive upon the courts, as declaring what vote should be required on the questions submitted to the members, and the vote cannot be adjudged invalid on the ground that a vote of two-thirds of the entire membership was necessary.

4. A provision in the original constitution of a church organization that the existing confession of faith shall not be changed by rule or ordinance is not violated by a revised confession, the changes in which are not in the distinctive doctrines or polity of the church, but merely for the purpose of fullness in the statement of the accepted doctrines.

5. A vote on proposed amendments to a church constitution cannot be adjudged invalid, on collateral attack in ejectment to recover church property between adverse factions of the church, on the ground that the ballots indicate unfairness in all containing the word "Yes," with directions that those voting in the negative must erase that word, and insert the word "No."

Error to circuit court, Harrison county.

Action by Alex. Russie and Charles Patton against John Brazzell and others. From a judgment for plaintiffs, defendants bring error. Affirmed.

Wanamaker & Barlow and D. S. Alvord, for plaintiffs in error. A. F. Woodruff, D. J. Heaston, and L. B. Gunckel, for defendants in error.

MACFARLANE, J.

This suit is ejectment to recover possession of certain lots at Eagleville, Harrison county. The title to the lots is vested in trustees for the use of the United Brethren in Christ by deed dated February 10, 1873. The property was used by the congregation of said church as a parsonage. The controversy grows out of a division in the church and said congregation which occurred in 1889. The plaintiffs are the trustees of the branch known as "Liberals," and defendants are trustees of the branch known as "Radicals." Each claim the property as trustees of the true church. The United Brethren in Christ is a voluntary, unincorporated, religious denomination. At its first organization, something over a century ago, it had neither a constitution nor a confession of faith. It looked to the Bible alone for doctrine and government. In 1815 the general conference, which was the highest legislative and judicial body of the church, adopted a confession of faith which contained the fundamental doctrines of the church, and which was recognized and adhered to until 1889. The general conference in 1841 formulated and adopted a constitution as the organic law of the church. This constitution recognized the confession of faith adopted in 1815, and provided, among other things, that "no rule or ordinance shall at any time be passed to change or do away with the confession of faith, as it now stands." It also provided, "There shall be no connection with secret combinations." Article 4 provided, "There shall be no alteration of the foregoing constitution, unless by request of two-thirds of the whole society." There was no submission of this constitution to a vote of the members of the society, and the regularity of its adoption is, and from its date has been, questioned. In May, 1885, the general conference adopted the following resolutions by a vote of 78 to 42: "Whereas, our confession of faith is silent or ambiguous upon some of the cardinal doctrines of the Bible, as held and believed by our church; and whereas, it is desirable and needful to so amend and improve our present constitution as to adapt its provisions more fully to the wants and conditions of the church in this and future time, — therefore, resolved, by the delegates of the annual conferences of the church of the United Brethren in Christ, in general conference assembled, that a church commission composed of twenty-seven persons, and consisting of the bishops of the church and ministers and laymen appointed and elected by this body, an equal number from each bishop's district, — provided that the Pacific district shall have two members besides its bishop, — be, and is hereby, authorized and established. The duties and powers of this commission shall be to consider our present confession of faith and constitution, and prepare such a form of belief and such amended fundamental rules for the government of this church in the future as will, in their judgment, be best adapted to secure its growth and efficiency in the work of evangelizing the world. Provided: (1) That this commission shall preserve unchanged in substance the present confession of faith, so far as it is clear. (2) That it shall also retain the present itinerant plan. (3) It shall keep sacred the general usages and distinctive principles of the church on all great moral reforms, as sustained by the Word of God, in so far as the province of their work may touch them. Provided, further, that in the final adoption, as a whole of a confession of faith and constitution for submission to the church by the commission, a majority vote of all the members composing the commission shall be necessary. Resolved, that this commission shall meet at such time and place as the board of bishops may appoint, and is expected to complete its work by January 1st, 1886. The commission shall also adopt, and cause to be executed, a plan by which the proposed confession of faith and constitution may receive the largest possible attention and expression of approval or disapproval by our people, including all necessary regulations for taking, counting, and reporting the vote. Resolved, that when, according to the foregoing provisions, the result of the vote of the church shows that two-thirds of all the votes cast have been given in approval of the proposed confession of faith and constitution, it shall be the duty of the bishops to publish and proclaim said result through the official organs of the church. Whereupon the confession of faith and constitution, thus ratified and adopted, shall become the fundamental belief and organic law of this church. Provided, further, that the adoption of the constitution as aforesaid shall in no wise affect any legislation of this general conference for the coming quadrennium." A recommendation of the following law in relation to secret combinations was also adopted: "A secret combination, in the sense of the constitution, is a secret league or confederation of persons holding principles and laws at variance with the Word of God, and infringing upon the natural, social, political, or religious rights of those outside its pale. Any member or minister of our church found in connection with such combination shall be dealt with as in other cases of disobedience to the order and discipline of the church in case of members, as found on page 23 of Discipline, in answer to the third question of section 3, chapter IV., and, in case of ministers, as found in chapter VI., section 13, page 65." Pursuant to these resolutions, a commission provided therein was duly appointed. The commission so appointed prepared a revised confession of faith and an amended constitution. These were submitted to a vote of the members of the society, under methods adopted by the commission. The vote was taken in November, 1888, after all reasonable endeavors to enlighten the membership through official organs and by pamphlets and by pulpit announcements. The vote, as taken, was as follows:

                For the confession of faith ............ 51,070
                Against ................................  3,310
                For the amended constitution ........... 50,685
                Against ................................  3,659
                For lay delegation ..................... 48,825
                Against ................................  5,634
                For section on secret combinations ..... 46,994
                Against ................................  7,298
                

At the time this vote was taken the membership exceeded 200,000. The revised confession of faith and amended constitution were reported to the general conference in 1889, and adopted by a vote of 110 to 20, and were proclaimed by the presiding bishop to be the "confession of faith and the constitution of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ." After the proclamation of the bishop, 15 members of the conference, including one...