Ex parte Alabama-West Fla. Conference of the United Methodist Church

Petition for writ of Mandamus

(Houston Circuit Court: CV-22-86)

COOK, JUSTICE

This case involves a dispute over church property. Harvest Church-Dothan ("Harvest") is, or was at one time, a member church of the Alabama-West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church, Inc. ("the AWFC"). Harvest brought this action against the AWFC and the "General Council on Finance and Administration of the United Methodist Church d/b/a The United Methodist Church" ("the GCFA") in the Houston Circuit Court.

Harvest sought a judgment declaring that the AWFC and the GCFA lack any legally cognizable interest in real or personal property held by Harvest ("the local church property") as well as injunctive relief preventing the AWFC and the GCFA from interfering with Harvest's use, ownership, or control of the local church property.

The AWFC and the GCFA moved to dismiss the action, arguing, among other things, that the trial court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction based on the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine, which is grounded in the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. That doctrine

prohibits civil courts from adjudicating disputes concerning spiritual or ecclesiastical matters. The AWFC and the GCFA additionally argued that the GCFA was an improper party to the action and that the trial court lacked personal jurisdiction over it. The trial court denied the motion to dismiss. The AWFC and the GCFA now petition this Court for a writ of mandamus directing the trial court to dismiss the underlying action.

"A petitioner carries a heavy burden in securing mandamus relief." Ex parte Gray, 308 So.3d 4, 10 (Ala. 2020). After careful review, and for the reasons explained below, we conclude that the AWFC and the GCFA have not met their burden of demonstrating a clear legal right to have the complaint against them dismissed. Accordingly, we deny the petition. In doing so, we express no view on the merits of Harvest's action. Instead, this action will continue in the trial court for further proceedings.

Facts and Procedural History

Since its founding in 1996, Harvest has been a member of the AWFC. The AWFC is a regional body of the United Methodist Church ("the UMC") and has certain supervisory responsibilities over member churches within its region. The governing instrument of the UMC is its

Book of Discipline.

Initially, Harvest held public services at a Dothan middle school. Harvest, however, soon began searching for land on which it could construct a new church building, and it sought financial support from the AWFC.

In 1999, Harvest identified a suitable parcel of land for the building site ("the land") and took steps to acquire the land. Although the full extent of the AWFC's financial contributions to Harvest's purchase and development of the land is unclear, it is undisputed that Harvest received an initial grant of approximately $25,000 from the AWFC for the land purchase.

On June 30, 1999, legal title to the land was conveyed by deed to three named individuals described as the "Trustees of Harvest United Methodist Church." (Emphasis added.)

Paragraph 2501 of the Book of Discipline provides that "[a]ll properties of United Methodist local churches ... are held, in trust, for the benefit of the entire denomination, and ownership and usage of church property is subject to the Discipline." (Emphasis added.) Paragraph 2503.1 of the Book of Discipline specifically requires that

every deed of property to a local church include the following trust clause:

"In trust, that said premises shall be used, kept, and maintained as a place of divine worship of the United Methodist ministry and members of The United Methodist Church; subject to the Discipline, usage, and ministerial appointments of said Church as from time to time authorized and declared by the General Conference and by the annual conference within whose bounds the said premises are situated. This provision is solely for the benefit of the grantee, and the grantor reserves no right or interest in said premises."

(Emphasis omitted.)

The deed at issue in this case included no such clause. However, Paragraph 2503.6 of the Book of Discipline further provides that the absence of a trust clause in a deed does not absolve a local church of "the responsibility to hold all of its property in trust for The United Methodist Church" if the deed conveys property to "a local church or church agency (or the board of trustees of either) of The United Methodist Church or any predecessor to The United Methodist Church."^[1]

Notably, paragraph 2506.1 of the Book of Discipline states, in relevant part, that "[a]ll provisions of the Discipline relating to property, both real and personal, and relating to the formation and operation of any corporation, and relating to mergers are conditioned upon their being in conformity with the local laws, and in the event of conflict therewith the local laws shall prevail...." (Emphasis added.)

Construction of a new church building on the land began sometime in 2002. On September 21, 2003, the new church building was consecrated in the name of "Harvest Church United Methodist" at a service presided over by the AWFC bishop and district superintendent.

In 2004, Harvest incorporated as a nonprofit corporation under the former Alabama Nonprofit Corporation Act, former § 10-3A-1 et seq., Ala. Code 1975, which has been recodified as the Alabama Nonprofit Corporation Law, § 10A-3-1.01 et seq., Ala. Code 1975. Paragraph 2506.2 of the Book of Discipline requires local churches to include the following in their corporate documents:

"a) identification of the sponsoring church agency or agencies ('sponsor(s)') to which it relates and the relationship of the corporation to its sponsor(s),

"b) recognition that its corporate powers are subject to the Discipline to the same extent as its sponsor(s), and

"c) recognition that the corporation's powers cannot exceed those given by the Discipline to its sponsor(s)."

Paragraph 2506.3 further requires that the corporate documents of the local church "include a reference to the [trust] provisions of ¶ 2501." Harvest's articles of incorporation did not satisfy the above-mentioned requirements. Instead, Harvest's articles of incorporation stated that "[t]he Church sitting and acting in a duly called and held business meeting shall be the final authority in all of its affairs," and that "title of all property shall be vested in the name of the Church."

In 2019, after years of disagreement over issues of human sexuality, the UMC's General Conference -- the UMC's supreme legislative body -held a special session and passed a plan for congregations that wished to leave the UMC for "reasons of conscience" regarding the issues of human sexuality. The UMC's General Conference added paragraph 2553 to the Book of Discipline, which provided a "gracious exit" for congregations that wished to disaffiliate from the UMC over issues related to human sexuality. Specifically, paragraph 2553 allowed congregations to exit with property if the disaffiliating congregations met certain financial and

procedural obligations.^[2]

On November 10, 2022, Harvest sued the AWFC and the GCFA in the trial court. In its complaint, Harvest acknowledged the possibility that Harvest's congregation "may or may not vote to cease its affiliation with the UMC denomination in the near future." Harvest further explained that, before its congregation made its decision, it wanted a judicial declaration that "it alone owns and controls all real and personal property titled in the name of, or held by, [Harvest]."

More specifically, the complaint asserted a claim requesting the following:

"A declaration recognizing that [Harvest] alone is the absolute, full, exclusive, fee simple owner of all real or personal property that is owned by [Harvest], held for [Harvest], or titled in its name; further, that the UMC and the [AWFC] have no right to or interest in any of the real or personal property so owned by [Harvest]; and further, that neither the UMC nor the [AWFC] has any trust, equitable, or beneficial interest in any of the real or personal property so owned by [Harvest]. [Harvest] requests that the judgment be accompanied by permanent injunctive relief protecting and enforcing the declaratory judgment of the [the trial court]."

The complaint also sought a temporary restraining order ("TRO") and a

preliminary injunction "prohibiting the UMC or the [AWFC] from taking any action that would directly or indirectly interfere with [Harvest's] use, ownership, or control of [the local church] property." Finally, the complaint sought

"[a]ll other general and equitable relief to which [Harvest] may be entitled, including a judgment that, in the event of any determination that the UMC has any interest in the Land, that [Harvest] is entitled to compensation and/or an unjust enrichment award for the improvements made to the Land at [Harvest's] expense."

Harvest's action was subsequently stayed by agreement of the parties pending the outcome of Harvest's congregation's vote to sever its affiliation with the UMC.

In January 2023, Harvest's congregation voted overwhelmingly to cease its affiliation with the UMC. Harvest, however, acknowledged that the vote was not in accordance with paragraph 2553...