Bethel AME Church of Newberry v. Domingo

District Court of Appeal of Florida

Bethel AME Church of Newberry v. Domingo

654 So. 2d 233, 1995 Fla. App. LEXIS 4362, 1995 WL 236966

CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida

DecidedApril 25, 1995

DocketNo. 94-926

StatusPublished

Cited by2 cases

This text of 654 So. 2d 233 (Bethel AME Church of Newberry v. Domingo) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Bethel AME Church of Newberry v. Domingo, 654 So. 2d 233, 1995 Fla. App. LEXIS 4362, 1995 WL 236966 (Fla. Ct. App. 1995).

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Opinion

PER CURIAM.

In this church schism case, the trial court erroneously entered summary judgment for appellees/defendants, the withdrawing members of Bethel AME Church of Newberry, concluding that they were the rightful owners of the church property. The principle of church structure which governs church property disputes, as articulated in the controlling case of Mills v. Baldwin, 362 So.2d 2 (Fla.1978), vacated on other grounds, 443 U.S. 914, 99 S.Ct. 3105, 61 L.Ed.2d 878 (1979), reinstated on remand, 377 So.2d 971 (Fla.1979), cert. denied, 446 U.S. 983, 100 S.Ct. 2964, 64 L.Ed.2d 839 (1980), requires that church property remain with the parent church where, as here, the church is hierarchical in structure. Given the trial court’s finding that the AME Church is hierarchical, judgment should have been entered in favor of appellants/plaintiffs as representatives of the original church.

Accordingly, we reverse the appealed order and direct entry of judgment in favor of the appellants.

MINER, WEBSTER and BENTON, JJ., concur.

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PER CURIAM.

In this church schism case, the trial court erroneously entered summary judgment for appellees/defendants, the withdrawing members of Bethel AME Church of Newberry, concluding that they were the rightful owners of the church property. The principle of church structure which governs church property disputes, as articulated in the controlling case of Mills v. Baldwin, 362 So.2d 2 (Fla.1978), vacated on other grounds, 443 U.S. 914, 99 S.Ct. 3105, 61 L.Ed.2d 878 (1979), reinstated on remand, 377 So.2d 971 (Fla.1979), cert. denied, 446 U.S. 983, 100 S.Ct. 2964, 64 L.Ed.2d 839 (1980), requires that church property remain with the parent church where, as here, the church is hierarchical in structure. Given the trial court’s finding that the AME Church is hierarchical, judgment should have been entered in favor of appellants/plaintiffs as representatives of the original church.

Accordingly, we reverse the appealed order and direct entry of judgment in favor of the appellants.

MINER, WEBSTER and BENTON, JJ., concur.

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654 So. 2d 233, 1995 Fla. App. LEXIS 4362, 1995 WL 236966, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bethel-ame-church-of-newberry-v-domingo-fladistctapp-1995.

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