In Hebron Community Methodist Church v. Wisconsin Conference Board of Trustees of the United Methodist Church, Inc., (WD WI, July 25, 2022), a Wisconsin federal district court rejected a claim by a local congregation that it retained title to the church's real property after it disaffiliated from its parent organization. The local congregation asked for a declaration that a Wisconsin statute specifically governing property of disaffiliated Methodist congregations is unconstitutional. The statute provides:
Whenever any local Methodist church or society shall become defunct or be dissolved the rights, privileges and title to the property thereof, both real and personal, shall vest in the annual conference and be administered according to the rules and discipline of said church.
The court however held that it need not reach the constitutional question, because the local congregation "has not pleaded facts sufficient to show that any neutral principle of law would allow Hebron to retain its property after disaffiliation." Wisconsin law directs courts to look to the Church's governing documents. The congregation had adopted the Book of Discipline as its governing document. The Book of Discipline provides in part:
All properties of United Methodist local churches and other United Methodist agencies and institutions are held, in trust, for the benefit of the entire denomination....
Courthouse News Service reports on the decision.
