It is alleged that the relator was a member of the religious denomination known as the United Brethren in Christ Church, and of the local society thereof known as Huntington Mission Station, located at Huntington, Indiana; that he was unjustly and irregularly expelled from such membership by the local society for * ‘ disobedience to the order of the church;” that he duly appealed to the quarterly conference in pursuance of the laws of the church; that it is the law of said denomination that when such appeal is taken the same shall first be reviewed by a board of arbiters composed of five persons, two of whom shall be chosen by the accused, two by the quarterly conference, and the fifth by these four; that his appeal was allowed by the quarterly conference, and he designated his two members of such board of arbiters, and requested appellees, who composed said conference, to select two members thereof, which was their duty, but they refused so to do, although there .were more than one hundred available and eligible persons; that membership in said denomination is a valuable right, of which he has been wrongfully deprived, and for redress' of which he will be without remedy, unless said board of arbiters be appointed to hear his appeal. Wherefore relator prayed the issuance of an alternative writ of mandamus, commanding appellees to appoint two qualified members of said denomination to serve as such arbiters.
An alternative writ, reciting in substance the facts just stated, was issued as prayed. Issues were joined thereon, and a trial by the court resulted in a finding and judgment in favor of appellees.
In the case of Grimes’s Executors v. Harmon (1871), 35 Ind. 198, 9 Am. Rep. 690, this court, in substance, held that when the rights of property, or civil rights as contradistinguished from ecclesiastical rights, are involved, and such ■rights depend upon religious faith or orthodoxy of citizens, or the rules, discipline and practice of churches or religious denominations, the courts may entertain and determine judicially all such questions, so far as they affect the rights of persons or religious denominations to property or civil rights.
In Gaff v. Greer (1882), 88 Ind. 122, 45 Am. Rep. 449, after citing a number of cases, the court, at page 132, said: “These authorities establish the proposition that the decision of one of these judicatories is binding upon the courts where such questions arise. It is said, however, that the appellants .had no notice, and for that reason the order is a nullity. This was a question for the presbytery. We cannot revise its ■judgment or determine its mode of procedure. This must be left to these bodies, otherwise they would be deprived of the power to construe the laws that govern them.”
The principle governing the jurisdictions of civil and ecclesiastical tribunals was well summed up in the case of White Lick Quarterly Meet. of Friends v. White Lick
In Dwenger v. Geary, supra, the court' quoted the following language from Shannon v. Frost (1842), 3 B. Mon. 253: [Erroneously quoted in Dwenger v. Geary (1888), 113 Ind. 106, and in White Lick Quarterly Meet. of Friends v. White Lick Quarterly Meet. of Friends (1883), 89 Ind. 136, as from Smith v. Nelson, 18 Vt. 511 — Rep.] “The court, having no ecclesiastical jurisdiction, cannot revise or question ordinary acts of church discipline or excision. Our only judicial power in the case arises from the conflicting claims of the parties to the church property and the use of it. * * ® We cannot decide who
In the case of Watson v. Jones (1871), 13 Wall. 679, 20 L. Ed. 666, the court most aptly explained the underlying reasons for the principle under consideration, in the following language: “In this country the full and free right to entertain any religious belief, to practice any religious principle, and to teach any religious doctrine which does not violate the laws of morality and property, and which does not infringe personal rights, is conceded to all. The law knows no heresy, and is committed to the support of no dogma, the establishment of no sect. The right to organize voluntary religious associations to assist in the expression and dissemination of any religious doctrine, and to create tribunals for the decision of controverted questions of faith within the association, and for the ecclesiastical government of all the individual members, congregations, and officers within the general association, is unquestioned. All who unite themselves to such a body do so with an implied consent to this government, and are bound to submit to it. But it would be a vain consent and would lead to the total subversion of such religious bodies, if any one aggrieved by one of their decisions could appeal to the secular courts and have them reversed. It is of the essence of these religious unions, and of their right to establish tribunals for the decision of questions arising among themselves, that those decisions should be binding in all cases of ecclesiastical cognizance, subject only to such appeals as the organism itself provides for.”
The following quotation from Shannon v. Frost (1842), 3 B. Mon. 253, commends itself: “The judicial eye of the civil authority of this land of religious liberty cannot penetrate the veil of the church, nor can the arm of this court either rend or touch that veil for the forbidden purpose of vindicating the alleged wrongs of the exscinded members. When they became members they did so on the condition of
In Chase v. Cheney (1871), 58 Ill. 509, 11 Am. Rep. 95, the supreme court said: “We have no right, and, therefore, will not exercise the power, to dictate ecclesiastical law. We do not aspire to become de facto heads of the church, and, by construction or otherwise, abrogate its laws and canons. We shall not inquire whether the alleged omission is any offense. This is a question of ecclesiastical cognizance. This is no forum for such adjudication. The church should guard its' own fold; enact and construe its own laws; enforce its own discipline; and thus will be maintained the boundary between the temporal and spiritual power.”
In the case of State v. Rector, etc. (1883), 28 Alb. L. J. 111, it was held that courts of law will interpose to control the proceedings of ecclesiastical bodies when a right to property is involved, but in no other instance. The following cases are to the same effect: Livingston v. Rector, etc. (1883), 45 N. J. L. 230; Jennings v. Scarborough (1894), 56 N. J. L. 401, 28 Atl. 559; Trustees, etc., v. Halvorson (1890), 42 Minn. 503, 44 N. W. 663; Fulbright v. Higginbotham (1896), 133 Mo. 668, 34 S. W. 875; Watson v. Garvin (1873), 54 Mo. 353; Prickett v. Wells (1893), 117 Mo. 502, 24 S. W. 52; Hale v. Everett (1868), 53 N. H. 9, 16 Am. Rep. 82; Connitt v. Reformed, etc., Church (1874), 54 N. Y. 551; Christ Church, etc., v. Phillips (1882), 5 Del. Ch. 429; Ferraria v. Vasconcellos (1863), 31 Ill. 25; Papailion v. Manusos (1903), 108 Ill. App. 272; German, etc., Church v. Commonwealth, ex rel. (1846), 3 Pa. St. 282, 291; Walker v. Wainwright (1853), 16 Barb. 486; Powers v. Budy (1895), 45 Neb. 208, 63 N. W. 476; First Baptist Church v. Witherell (1832), 3 Paige *296, 24 Am. Dec. 223; Nance v. Busby (1892), 91 Tenn. 303, 18 S. W. 874, 15 L. R. A.
In the ease of Sale v. First Regular Baptist Church (1883), 62 Iowa 26, 17 N. W. 143, 49 Am. Rep. 136, appellant sought to compel by writ of mandamus, his reinstatement as a member of the church. The court held that the action would not lie, and, in disposing of the question, said: “For some alleged offense'against the church, the plaintiff has been expelled -therefrom by the church. This is a purely ecclesiastical question into which we cannot inquire. By virtue of her church membership, the plaintiff became a member of the corporation, entitled only to the rights and privileges of a member of a corporation organized for religious or ecclesiastical purposes. The corporation was not organized for pecuniary profit. No such profit can possibly accrue to any member. No property interest, or any other valuable civil right, has been affected by the action of .the church. The plaintiff has not and cannot suffer any civil damages whatever. ’ ’
The relator in this case alleges, in general terms, that his rights as a member of the congregation and church from which he was expelled were valuable. But it is apparent that they are purely ecclesiastical, and not valuable in the sense that is required to give secular courts jurisdiction to supervise and control the tribunals provided by the church to hear and determine such matters.
If mandamus will not lie to restore membership, it is plain that such writ will not issue to compel a step to be taken involving no other right than such membership. No allegation appears in the pleadings sufficient to bring this controversy within the domain of the civil courts. It is of no consequence, therefore, upon what ground the peremptory writ was denied after a trial; the final conclusion and judgment were right, and must be affirmed.
The judgment is affirmed.