Parish's Property Held In Trust For Episcopal Church

In Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Tennessee v. Rector, Wardens and Vestrymen of St. Andrew's Parish, (TN App., April 25, 2012), a Tennessee appeals court held that property of a break-away parish, under the Episcopal Church's Dennis Canon as well as the Diocese's own governance documents, was held in trust by by the congregation for the Diocese of Tennessee. Despite arguments to the contrary by defendants, the court held that: "There is nothing in the language of the relevant documents to indicate that the hierarchical organization of the church is not applicable to the control and ownership of real property." The court concluded:

St. Andrew’s argument that courts must look only to the deed ignores the holdings of Tennessee and other courts that application of neutral principles of law in intrachurch property disputes includes consideration of church governing documents, not just the document transferring the property.