In Deutsche Evangelisch Lutherische Zions Gemeinde v. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, (Kings Cty NY Sup. Ct., Aug. 16, 2023), a New York state trial court dismissed a suit brought by a German Lutheran church in Brooklyn that claims it has broken away from its parent bodies, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and ELCA's Metropolitan New York Synod over the parent bodies' stance accepting same-sex marriage and ordination of gay clergy. The parent bodies claim that the church is still affiliated with them. Plaintiff asks the court to determine that its membership with the parent bodies has been terminated and that the parent bodies lack authority to take control of church property. It also alleges in defamation claims that false statements about its affiliation injure its reputation and dissuade new members from joining. In rejecting those claims, the court said in part:
... [T]he neutral principles of law approach cannot be applied to adjudicate plaintiff's property claims which directly call into question the authority that has been vested in the synod to impose synodical administration which would allow it to dissolve the church and take control over its property....
The MNYS's power to impose synodical administration is far broader, however, than its authority to take control over a local church's property.... Plaintiff's argument ... ignores the inherent religious elements.... [T]he decision to impose synodical administration over a church involves consideration by the Synod of such issues as church governance, religious doctrine and practice, scripture, and the spiritual well-being of the local church's remaining members. Thus, it concerns subject matter with which this court is forbidden from entangling itself pursuant to the First Amendment. Indeed, synodical administration is an inherently religious matter although it incidentally concerns a local church's property.....
In order to resolve the dispute of whether plaintiff terminated its membership with defendants, this court would necessarily intrude into areas of church polity, religious doctrine, practice, and scripture in order to force the Synod to accept the votes taken by plaintiff's congregation in 2008 and 2009 to terminate the relationship. Whether plaintiff remains a member church of the ELCA and the MNYS is more than just a mere associational question but a religious one.
