Texas Court Refuses To Decide Church Dispute Over Board Members

In Grenais v. Metropolitan Isaiah, (Tex. App., June 8, 2006), a Texas state appellate court has dismissed a suit asking the court to decide who are the rightful trustees (parish council) of the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Houston, Texas. A dispute between the originally elected parish council and Father Karambis, the pastor of the church, led him and Metropolitan Isaiah to demand resignations of the parish council and to the Metropolitan's removing those who refused to resign. The pastor and Metropolitan then appointed an interim council to run the Cathedral. The court held that the First Amendment precluded it from adjudicating the dispute. It said that the controversy inherently involves a presiding bishop's power to discipline a local parish council; to determine whether the council's members have violated their oath; and an archdiocese's right to insist on the by-laws may be adopted by its subordinate parishes.