Harmony

Title, Harmony, Division

From the book The Clergyman’s Hand-book of Law, about Title, Harmony, Division (1): The title to church property in a divided congregation is in that part of the congregation which acts in harmony with the law of the denomination; and the ecclesiastical laws and principles which were accepted among them before the dispute began, are the standard for determining which party is right.518 In other cases the division of church property, where there is a division of the congregation, depends upon its particular facts.519 Where $400 was bequeathed to a Lutheran congregation in S–, there being at the time of the making of the will but one Lutheran congregation in the place, but subsequently a majority of the trustees and members with the pastor left the church and built a new one, the old church continued vested with the title to the property and all its funds.520

Resources

Notes and References

1. Charles M. Scanlan, The Clergyman’s Hand-book of Law. The Law of Church and Grave (1909), Benziger Brothers, New York, Cincinnati, Chicago

See Also

• Religion
• Church