Upon a reassignment this case has fallen to me. Plaintiffs, nisi, being cast below upon demurrer, refused to plead further, and, after final judgment dismissing their bill, sued out their writ of error. The facts well pleaded therefore become the facts of the case. Plaintiffs below (plaintiffs in error here) allege that S. R. Tucker is the warden of Trinity Church, in Kansas City, Mo., and that he with the other named plaintiffs
"Constitute the duly elected, qualified, and acting board of vestrymen of the said Trinity Church, and as such are the executive board of Trinity Church, a voluntary religious association, and as such warden and vestrymen are invested with the title and right to possession to all of the property, real and personal, belonging to said Trinity Church, as trustees for the members of said church or parish."
"(2) That said Trinity Church is, and at all times hereinafter mentioned has been a legally organized and constituted parish in the diocese of West Missouri of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America; that said Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America is a voluntary religious association; and that the majority of the various parishes and part of the diocese of which it is composed are incorporated for the purpose of holding title to real estate and personal property for religious uses and purposes of said church. That said Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America is governed by a constitution and canons which define and prescribe the laws, rules, and regulations for the government of the voluntary association in ecclesiastical matters, and which define the territorial subdivisions of said association, including the subdivisions known as parishes, and prescribe their relationship and duties towards the association and towards each other.
"(3) That for many years prior to December, 1917, the said Trinity Church, as a separate entity, was duly recognized as such by the ecclesiastical authority in the said diocese of West Missouri, and by the various officers and members composing the general council in said diocese. That the wardens and vestrymen of said Trinity Church owned the equitable title, and were in possession of real estate in Kansas City, Mo., located in said parish, and described as follows: Lot one and the north 15 feet of lot two, block one, P. S. Brown's addition in Kansas City, Jackson county, Mo. That there was and still is a large and commodious church building on said premises, which for many years had been used by the congregation of said Trinity parish as their place of worship, and that the wardens and vestrymen of said church had the title and were in possession of a large amount of personal property in said church which was used in connection with holding religious worship therein. That all said property is reasonably worth more than $100,000.
"(4) That adjoining said Trinity parish there was at all times prior to December, 1917, another parish in said diocese of West Missouri, known as Grace parish, and that said Grace parish was likewise incorporated under the laws of Missouri, and said corporation owned and conducted a house of worship therein known as Grace Church, the record title to which was vested in the bishop of the diocese, the record holding of the vestry being the rectory of said Grace Church. That in June, 1917, as will be more fully set out herein, an attempt was initiated by certain of the defendants, as hereinafter specified, to consolidate the two parishes by merging Trinity parish into Grace parish, and by abandoning the said Trinity Church as a place of worship, and by changing the name of said Grace Church to Grace and Holy Trinity Church, and that thereafter the said church has been called and recognized as Grace and Holy Trinity Church by its rector and vestrymen, and by the bishop of the diocese and the members of the general council, but plaintiffs allege that said attempt at consolidation and merger was void and of no effect, and that the appropriation of the name `Trinity' by the rector, wardens, and vestrymen of said Grace parish, was and is an invasion of the property rights of plaintiffs, and in violation
of the constitution and canons of said Protestant Episcopal Church.
"(5) Plaintiffs state further that the defendant the Reverend R. N. Spencer is rector, and defendants H. D. Ashley and John Gosling are the wardens and the vestrymen of said Grace Church and parish, and together with the defendants Solomon Stoddard, W. G. Cooper, R. H. Smallfeld, D. G. Murray, W. M. Federman, H. M. C. Low, W. G. Chapman, W. R. Jacques, H. E. Minty, and Logan Clendenning constitute the board of vestrymen of said Grace Church, illegally published by them as aforesaid as Grace and Holy Trinity Church. That the defendant the Right Reverend S. C. Partridge is, and at all times hereinafter mentioned has been, the regularly consecrated bishop of said diocese of West Missouri and as such, under the constitution and canons of said church, is invested with supreme ecclesiastical authority in said diocese, and was as such the holder of the record title to said Grace Church. That the defendant the Reverend R. N. Spencer, prior to the 21st day of October, 1917, was the duly constituted and acting rector of Trinity Church, and, following the attempted merger of said parish with Grace parish, he accepted a call from vestry of Grace parish, and became the rector of said Grace Church, abandoned his rectorship of Trinity Church, and became the rector of Grace Church, and has continued in said office as rector of Grace Church, and is now the duly constituted and acting rector of said Grace parish, and has not been the rector of Trinity Church since his said abandonment thereof.
"(6) That the constitution and canons for the government of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States contained no provision nor authority for the consolidation of two parishes, or the merging of one parish into another, and that the ecclesiastical authorities of said Trinity and Grace parishes were without legal or canonical authority to abrogate Trinity parish, and that the wardens and vestrymen of Trinity Church have no authority to consent to the merging of Trinity parish, or to transfer the title to the property of Trinity Church to said Grace parish. That section 2 of canon 19 of the constitution and canons of the diocese of West Missouri provides that it shall not be lawful for any vestry, trustee, or other body authorized by the laws of the state to hold property for the parish or congregation to incumber or alienate the church, chapel, rectory, or other parochial building, or the grounds pertaining thereto without a two-thirds vote of the whole vestry after the previous written consent of the bishop and standing committee. And article 8 of the articles of association of Trinity Church provide that the vestry shall have power to mortgage or to otherwise incumber the property of the parish or any part of it for parish purposes, and to convey or lease the same, but no mortgage or conveyance of any lands or tenements belonging to said parish shall be made without the vote of the vestry, two-thirds thereof being present and concurring, nor shall such conveyance or incumbrance be made unless in subjection to the canons of the general convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church of America.
"(7) That the resolution by which the respective vestries of Trinity and Grace Churches attempted to merge the two parishes, and to divest the Trinity Church corporation and its wardens and vestrymen from all title and dominion over its property, was voted upon at a meeting of the vestry of said Trinity Church, without previous written consent of the standing committee, and that said resolution, although it received a majority of the vote of the vestrymen present, failed to receive the vote of two-thirds of the whole vestry. Wherefore said attempt at merging the two parishes and alienating the property of Trinity Church was void and of no effect.
"(8) Plaintiffs further state that, regardless of the lack of authority to merge the two parishes and of the authority of the vestry of Trinity parish to alienate its property, and regardless of a condition in said resolution so voted upon that...
