Texas Court Dismisses Dispute Among Members Over Church Assets

A Texas state court of appeals yesterday dismissed a petition by members of the House of Grace church in Fort Worth seeking a division of the church's assets among two competing factions. Smith v. North District Texas Council of the Assemblies of God and House of Grace, (TX Ct. App., Nov. 30, 2006), involved a dispute growing out of the intervention into church affairs by the church's District Council. The Council, the church's parent body, implemented a plan for the church to remain united, after a proposal to split into two churches failed to receive a two-thirds vote of church members. The court held that members' claim that the vote was not held in accordance with church bylaws was an ecclesiastical matter that civil courts are precluded from adjudicating under the First Amendment.