A petition for certorari (full text) was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday in Trustees of the New Life In Christ Church v. City of Fredericksburg, Virginia, (cert. filed 8/2/2021). The decisions below are an unreported decision from a Virginia state trial court and a Virginia Supreme Court order refusing to grant review. The petition for review filed with the U.S. Supreme Court describes the case:
New Life In Christ Church claimed the tax exemption for a property occupied by Josh and Anacari Storms. The Church explained that the Stormses are “ministers” under the Presbyterian Church in America’s Book of Church Order because they were hired to teach and spread the faith to college students in the community. The City of Fredericksburg agreed that eligibility for the exemption turned on whether the Presbyterian Church in America considered the Stormses to be ministers, but it denied the exemption because, under its reading of the Book of Church Order, only ordained persons with specific duties are ministers of that church.
One of the issues presented is whether a civil court may substitute its own interpretation of church doctrine for that of church officials. First Liberty Institute issued a press release announcing the filing of the cert. petition.
