In
Harris v. Matthews, (NC Sup. Ct., May 4, 2007), the North Carolina Supreme Court dismissed on First Amendment grounds a claim by a faction of the church that its pastor and certain church officials breached their fiduciary duties by improperly using church funds. The majority held:
Determining whether actions, including expenditures, by a church's pastor, secretary, and chairman of the Board of Trustees were proper requires an examination of the church's view of the role of the pastor, staff, and church leaders, their authority and compensation, and church management. Because a church's religious doctrine and practice affect its understanding of each of these concepts, seeking a court's review of the matters presented here is no different than asking a court to determine whether a particular church's grounds for membership are spiritually or doctrinally correct or whether a church's charitable pursuits accord with the congregation's beliefs. None of these issues can be addressed using neutral principles of law.
Justice Brady wrote a concurring opinion, taking a restrictive view of the reach of the Establishment Clause. He wrote:
The "wall of separation" metaphor should only be used, if at all, in cases such as the one sub judice. In other words, the gate to the "wall of separation" only swings one way, locking the government out of ecclesiastical matters.
Justices Hudson and Timmons-Goodson dissented arguing that it was improper to grant an interlocutory appeal in the case and that the case merely presents a property dispute that can be resolved by civil courts using neutral principles of law.
