Fla. appeals court says it cannot resolve church governance matters

An appeals court has refused to nullify a Florida Baptist church’s decision to switch from congregational to elder rule, saying courts can resolve disputes over church property but not matters of church governance.

Several former members of First Baptist Church, Micanopy, Fla., claimed in a lawsuit that leaders of the congregation violated articles of incorporation filed with the secretary of state when they terminated membership of members who opposed views of two pastors that congregation-led church governance is unbiblical. Later the church amended those documents to assign governance to a three-member board of elders.

The lawsuit claimed breach of “fiduciary duty,” arguing that as an incorporated nonprofit entity, the church was required to take corporate action in accordance with its articles of incorporation or bylaws. A circuit court sided with the church, saying it lacked jurisdiction over what it deemed to be an “ecclesiastical dispute.” Florida’s 1st District Court of Appeal upheld the lower court’s ruling Sept. 16. Unlike other cases involving disputes over corporate assets, the appellate court said the controversy is “solely over how the church should govern itself — an essentially religious matter” and that exercising jurisdiction would be tantamount to “intervening on behalf of a group espousing particular doctrinal beliefs.”  (ABP)