23 Iowa 567 | Iowa | 1867
There is no appeal from that portion of the judgment of the District Court which quiets the title to the parsonage property in the defendant Calkin ; nor from that portion denying plaintiffs’ right to the funds of the
The conveyance to the trustees of the First Constitutional Presbyterian church, of the property in controversy, .was simply to them and their successors in office. There was no express trust created by the language of the deed, If there was a trust attaching to the conveyance, it was a trust resulting from the circumstances and relations of the parties. While it is fully true, that courts of law will not enter into the examination or discussion of purely theological questions in order to ascertain the proper beneficiary of a resulting trust; yet it is clear, that if the trust was created for the benefit of those adhering to a particular denomination, courts of law will accept and •follow the determination of the proper ecclesiastical tri
the nature and extent of the trust (sed vide The Atty.-Oenl. v. Pearson, 7 Sim. 708), yet it is clear, that the circumstances surrounding the making and accepting of the conveyance, may be inquired into for the purpose of ascertaining the object of the trust. To illustrate the idea sought to be conveyed, suppose the trustees in this case had leased the church edifice and property for the purpose of theatrical exhibitions instead of for religious services; would it be contended that they had the right or power so to do? We presume not. .And why not? Because such a use would be in clear antagonism to the object and purposes of the conveyance.
And to carry the illustration a little further, suppose a majority of the members, at a meeting held for that purpose, voted to lease the church edifice to be used as a theater, and also voted to allow the minority the same privileges in attending the theater, which the majority were to have. Would it be claimed, that the trustees could even then so lease the church edifice? We think not, simply because such a use would be a clear violation of the trust; and even a majority cannot divest the minority of their right in the property, or of its appropriation to the trust in which such minority have an interest.
The circumstances surrounding, and relations of the parties to this conveyance, sufficiently imply a' trust, that the property shall be used for the purposes of those adhering and in subordination to the religious denomination to which it .was conveyed. Some of these circumstances and relations are the organization of the First Constitutional Presbyterian Church as a New School Presbyterian church; it was . placed in the care of, adhered and was in subordination to, the presbytery, synod and general assembly of that denomination, and so continued for a quarter of a century, and up to the act complained of; it was receiving aid during that time from the boards of that denomination; it had its representation in all the judicatures of that body of Christians; the conveyance was made by a minister of that denomination, who was at the time the pastor of this particular church, to the trustees thereof and their successors forever; the funds for the erection of the church edifice were to' a considerable, extent obtained from the synod and general assembly of that denomination, etc. .
The evidence discloses that the presbytery having jurisdiction of this particular church, has adjudicated that the plaintiffs are adhering and in subordination to it, and that the old trustees, the defendants, are not, but have acted irregularly and disorderly, whereby their offices were vacated. Said presbytery also adjudged that plaint iffs were duly and properly elected trustees under the rules and discipline of that denomination.
Affirmed.