In Iglesia Pentecostal Filadelfia, Inc. v. Rodriguez, (TX App., Dec. 29, 2021), a Texas state appellate court affirmed a trial court's dismissal of an internal church dispute on ecclesiastical abstention grounds. Jose Rodriguez, Jr. took over as pastor of the church when his mother passed away. Plaintiffs sued on behalf of the church challenging Rodriguez's actions in that role. The court said in part:
Here, the trial court found that neither side complied with the Church’s organizational and governing documents, including the Bylaws, a decision we find support for in the record .... Therefore, we find that a determination of the Church’s claims at issue would impermissibly embroil the trial court in a religious controversary to include choosing its church leaders....
Further, the Church’s second declaration is clearly a matter of church authority or governance as opposed to substantively and effectively a property dispute as it asks the trial court to declare that “[Jose Jr.] has no right or authority to act on the behalf of [the Church] and its congregation.”
Moreover, to develop the Church’s conversion claim would impermissibly force the trial court to decide the Church’s corporate governance because to do so would require it to determine which board to inquire of for the reason behind the alleged unlawful use of funds.
