BONNIE A. HEMPHILL, PETITIONER,
v.
ZION HOPE PRIMITIVE BAPTIST CHURCH OF PENSACOLA, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, ET AL., RESPONDENT
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A former pastor challenges a temporary injunction preventing him from acting as pastor of Zion Hope Primitive Baptist Church after his termination by the Board of Trustees. The court affirms the injunction, holding that the First Amendment does not bar judicial review where the dispute turns on compliance with corporate bylaws rather than church doctrine.
The injunction is valid because the dispute concerns compliance with corporate charter and bylaws provisions, not church doctrine, making civil courts an appropriate forum and the First Amendment inapplicable.
[1] Civil courts may exercise jurisdiction over disputes concerning the discharge of a minister when the controversy hinges on whether the discharge complied with the corpora…
[2] A temporary injunction may be granted to restrain a pastor from acting as such pending the final disposition of a case where the dispute concerns the legality of the past…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“when the controversy turns on whether a minister's discharge was accomplished in accordance with the corporate charter, ecclesiastic matters do not come into play and the civil courts are an appropriate forum for the type of relief sought here”
Establishes the key distinction that disputes over corporate procedure, not doctrine, are justiciable
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAppellant served as pastor of Zion Hope Primitive Baptist Church since 1977. On July 5, 1983, the Board of Trustees fired him, and he was notified on …
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WENTWORTH, Judge.
This is an appeal from an interlocutory order granting plaintiffs/appellees a temporary injunction restraining appellant from assuming or exerting any authority as pastor of the Zion Hope Primitive Baptist Church of Pensacola, Inc., pending the final disposition of this case. We affirm.
Appellant had been the pastor of Zion Hope since 1977 when a dispute arose among members of the congregation regarding his continued employment.
On July 5, 1983, a group of members calling themselves the Board of Trustees held a meeting and fired the pastor. The pastor was informed of the action of the trustees on July 8, 1983, but the following Sunday he convened, and attempted to conduct, the church service. Although the parties agree on very little, they do agree that the services did not proceed in an orderly manner, but were disrupted by “considerable turmoil.” Thereafter, this action was filed in the name of the church by the members of the group who had fired appellant. The amended complaint sought a temporary and permanent restraining order as well as an accounting. It is the trial court’s order granting the temporary injunction, restraining appellant from acting as pastor of the church, from which this appeal is taken.
Appellant contends that the trial court’s order is in violation of the provision in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution which prohibits government interference in ecclesiastical matters. According to appellant, the court cannot determine whether he was rightfully fired without construing matters of church doctrine, an activity clearly prohibited by the First Amendment.
However, when the controversy turns on whether a minister’s discharge was accomplished in accordance with the corporate charter, ecclesiastic matters do not come into play and the civil courts are an appropriate forum for the type of relief sought here. Cf., Epperson v. Myers, 58 So. 2d 150 (Fla.1952); Covington v. Bowers, 442 So. 2d 1068 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983). The complaint in this case alleges that the church is a duly authorteed corporation and that the discharge was accomplished in accordance with the articles and bylaws of the corporation. Copies of those articles and bylaws are included in appellant’s appendix, and reveal that no interpretation of church doctrine is required to effect a judicial construction of those provisions pertaining to the discharge of corporate employees.
Therefore, the trial court’s acceptance of jurisdiction and resulting orders do not violate the constitutional requirement of separation of church and state.
Affirmed.
MILLS, J., and McCORD, Jr. (Ret.), Associate Judge, concur.
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Kond v. Stefan Mudryk, 769 So. 2d 1073 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000)…iliated with a church because the claim did not “create an excessive entanglement with religious beliefs”); Doe, 718 So. 2d at 288; Rolle v. Judge, 810 So. 2d 42 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975); Hemphill v. Zion Hope Primitive Baptist Church of Pensacola, Inc., 447 So. 2d 976 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984)(affirming the trial court’s order granting the church a temporary injunction, restraining the defendant from acting as their pastor, when the church discharged the defendant in accordance with the church’s by-laws and a construct…
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The Word OF Life Ministry, Inc. v. Miller, 778 So. 2d 360 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001)…ing. See generally Houseman v. Summit Christian Sch. of Palm Beach County, Fla., Inc., 762 So. 2d 979, 980 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000); Doe v. Evans, 718 So. 2d 286, 288 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998); Hemphill v. Zion Hope Primitive Baptist Church of Pensacola, Inc., 447 So. 2d 976, 977 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984); Umberger v. Johns, 363 So. 2d 63, 65 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978); Rolle v. Judge, 310 So. 2d 42, 42 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975); cf. Kond v. Mudryk, 769 So. 2d 1073, 1076 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000). [T]he doctrine of either side is ... of no mom…
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Rosenberger v. Jamison, 72 So. 3d 199 (Fla. 1st DCA 2011)…om the congregation was not at issue. Thus, in Word of Life this court could review the corporation’s actions for compliance with the bylaws, without implicating church doctrine. Cf. Hemphill v. Zion Hope Primitive Baptist Church of Pensacola, Inc., 447 So. 2d 976, 977 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984) (finding judicial resolution of church dispute permissible where no interpretation of church doctrine was necessary to determine if corporate church fired its pastor in accordance with articles and bylaws). Finally, it is ev…
Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Epperson v. Myers, 58 So.2d 150 (Fla. 1952)
- H.S. Covington v. Bowers, 442 So. 2d 1068 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983)