The Rector v. Bishop Of The Episcopal Diocese Of Ga. Inc

• Decision Date: 08 July 2010
• Docket Number: No. A10A1375.,A10A1375.
• Citation: 305 Ga.App. 87,699 S.E.2d 45
• Parties: The RECTOR, WARDENS AND VESTRYMEN OF CHRIST CHURCH IN SAVANNAHv.BISHOP OF the EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF GEORGIA, INC. et al.
• Court: Georgia Court of Appeals

305 Ga.App. 87

699 S.E.2d 45

The RECTOR, WARDENS AND VESTRYMEN OF CHRIST CHURCH IN SAVANNAHv.BISHOP OF the EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF GEORGIA, INC. et al.

No. A10A1375.

Court of Appeals of Georgia.

July 8, 2010.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Ellis, Painter, Ratterree & Adams, Paul W. Painter, Jr., Simpson & Creasy, Neil A. Creasy, Savannah, for appellant.

Elliott, Blackburn, Barnes & Gooding, James E. Elliott, Valdosta, Gillen, Withers & Lake, Thomas A. Withers, Savannah, for appellees.

JOHNSON, Judge.

This appeal involves a dispute over church property between the National Episcopal Church ¹ and Rector, Wardens and Vestrymen of Christ Church in Savannah (hereinafter “Christ Church”), a parish of the National Episcopal Church that has sought to disaffiliate and that has retained control of church property.² At issue is whether the church property is impressed with a trust in favor of the National Episcopal Church. Both parties filed motions for summary judgment. The trial court granted the National Episcopal Church's motion for summary judgment and denied Christ Church's motion for summary judgment, finding that even though the parish owns its real estate, the discipline, canons, and constitutions of the National Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Georgia established an implied and express trust over the property for the use of the National Episcopal Church. We find no error and affirm the trial court's order. In fact, Superior Court Judge Michael Karpf, in his 21 page order, thoroughly and correctly detailed the history of Christ Church and the National Episcopal Church, and he properly analyzed the relevant statutes and church documents. We have incorporated much of his order in our opinion.

It is well settled that civil courts cannot intervene in doctrinal disputes within a church.³ However, where a church property dispute can be resolved without regard to the doctrinal disputes, a court is authorized to render a decision that enforces the legal rights of the parties.⁴ Georgia law recognizes two basic types of church government: congregational and hierarchical.⁵ A congregational church is strictly independent of other ecclesiastic associations and owes no fealty or obligation to any higher church government authority.⁶ If the church government is congregational, then a majority of its members control its decision and local church property. ⁷ A hierarchical church, on the other hand, is “organized as a body with other churches having similar faith and doctrine with a common ruling convocation or ecclesiastical head.” ⁸ If a church is hierarchical, then we must use “neutral principles of law” to determine whether the local church or parent church has the right to control local property.⁹ Neutral principles of law include state statutes, corporate charters, relevant deeds, and the organizational constitutions and bylaws of the denomination. ¹⁰

Here, careful consideration of the National Episcopal Church's structure and history persuades us that the National Episcopal Church is hierarchical. The church organization has three tiers: (1) the National Episcopal Church, (2) geographically-defined dioceses that belong to, are subordinate to, and are under the jurisdiction of the National Episcopal Church, and (3) local parishes that belong to are subordinate to, and are under the jurisdiction of the National Episcopal Church and the individual diocese in which the parish is located. At the present time, the National Episcopal Church is comprised of 111 dioceses and thousands of individual churches, each of which must be affiliated with a diocese. The National Episcopal Church is governed by a general convention composed of bishops and deputies. The dioceses are governed by bishops and an annual convention. Each parish is governed by a vestry, which is akin to a board of directors. The vestry of each church sends delegates to its diocesan convention, and each diocese sends delegates to the general convention. There are governing documents at each level of the church. The National Episcopal Church has a constitution and canons, which are similar to bylaws. The dioceses also have constitutions and canons, but these are subordinate to the governing documents of the National Episcopal Church. The individual parishes are controlled by the terms of their charters and bylaws, which are in turn subordinate to the constitutions and canons of both the diocese and the National Episcopal Church. In addition, the dioceses and parishes are subject to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the National Episcopal Church generally.

Having concluded that the National Episcopal Church is hierarchical, we must apply the neutral principles of law, referring to (1) the land grant to Christ Church, (2) state statutes, and (3) governing church documents of Christ Church, the Diocese of Georgia, and the National Episcopal Church to determine whether the National Episcopal Church or Christ Church controls the local property. A thorough review of these records and documents leads us to conclude that the trial court correctly found that the National Episcopal Church is entitled to control the local property despite the fact that Christ Church owns the property.

1. Land Grant. The record shows that the land on which Christ Church sits was designated as a place of worship in 1733 when the colony of Georgia was founded. Title to the property was later vested in Christ Church by act of the provincial legislature in 1758. The provincial legislature confirmed the grant of land to Christ Church in Savannah by naming the rector and giving him and his successors the possession and title to the church and church lands. This legislative land grant was again confirmed by the General Assembly of Georgia in 1789, establishing title to the church property in the wardens and vestrymen of Christ Church and establishing the church as a body corporate with the power to sue and be sued. We agree with Christ Church that this land grant does not establish the trust relied on by the National Episcopal Church since Christ Church took title to the property prior to the existence of the Diocese of Georgia and before the National Episcopal Church had any presence in Georgia.¹¹

2. State Statutes. In support of its position that a trust exists, the National Episcopal Church relies on OCGA § 14-5-46, part of the Georgia Nonprofit Corporation Code originally enacted in 1805, which now provides:

All deeds of conveyance executed before April 1, 1969, or thereafter for any lots of land within this state to any person or persons, to any church or religious society, or to trustees for the use of any church or religious society for the purpose of erecting churches or meeting houses shall be deemed to be valid and available in law for the intents, uses, and purposes contained in the deeds of conveyance. All lots of land so conveyed shall be fully and absolutely vested in such church or religious society or in their respective trustees for the uses and purposes expressed in the deed to be held by them or their trustees for their use by succession, according to the mode of church government or rules of discipline exercised by such churches or religious societies.¹²

Further, OCGA § 14-5-47 provides:

All trustees to whom conveyances are or shall be executed, for the purposes expressed in Code Section 14-5-46, shall be subject to the authority of the church or religious society for which they hold the same in trust and may be expelled from said trust by such church or society, according to the form of government or rules of discipline by which they may be governed.

Christ Church presents numerous arguments opposing the application of these Code sections to the real property at issue. These arguments include the fact that Christ Church received title to its property by grant from the legislature, not by deed; that the section does not apply to Christ Church because its title had already been confirmed by act of the legislature; that Christ Church was an incorporated body capable of taking good title prior to the enactment of the Code section; and that the purpose of the section was in aid of other religious bodies, but not Christ Church. These arguments lack merit.

First, OCGA § 14-5-11 provides that the Georgia Nonprofit Corporation Code applies to all corporations chartered by the General Assembly. OCGA § 14-5-40 provides that the Georgia Nonprofit Corporation Code is “fully applicable to all nonprofit corporations organized for religious ... purposes, including incorporated churches.” The broad application of the nonprofit corporation codes to religious corporations demonstrates the General Assembly's clear intent to apply corporate law to all religious corporations in the state. The General Assembly could not and did not create “classes” of church corporations based upon the manner in which they were incorporated or the method of conveyance of property to the church. ¹³ Thus, contrary to its argument, Christ Church and the property in dispute are subject to the same provisions, conditions, and limitations as any other incorporated church and its property.

Moreover, at the time Christ Church was incorporated and the legislature confirmed its land grant, it was a congregational church, unaffiliated with either the Diocese of Georgia (which had not yet been formed) or the National Episcopal Church. However, when Christ Church joined the Diocese of Georgia and the National Episcopal Church hierarchy in 1823, the two Code sections had been promulgated 18 years earlier. By taking the steps to affiliate itself with the National Episcopal Church, Christ Church made itself subject to the Code sections. Even though the first part of OCGA § 14-5-46 did not change the status of the church's title to its property, which was already valid by the earlier act of the legislature, the second sentence became applicable. This is so because, as will be seen later, “the mode of church government [a...