194 Pa. 178 | Pa. | 1899
Opinion by
This is an appeal by plaintiff from a decree in the court below dismissing his bill because not served on proper parties defendants.
It appears that plaintiff is an ordained preacher of the United Presbyterian Church, and had charge of a congregation of about 250 members of that denomination at Jamestown, Mercer county, from 1871 to 1892; in the latter year charges were preferred against him before the presbytery of which he was a member, by eight members of the congregation, averring mainly that he was contumacious, and treated the church court of session with the utmost disrespect; there was no charge of immorality or neglect of pastoral work. About throe fifths of the members sided with the pastor, and remonstrated to the presbytery against sustaining the prosecution. The presbytery sustained the complaining members and dissolved the pastoral relation. Plaintiff then appealed to the synod which, after hearing, set aside the action of the presbytery and reinstated plaintiff; an appeal was taken by the presbytery from the decree of the synod to the general assembly, which body sustained the action of the presbytery. Plaintiff avers that the whole proceeding subsequent to the action of the synod was arbitrary, illegal and void, because in direct violation of the laws and usages of the church. Therefore he filed his bill in the court below averring the facts, and further averring that the illegal action of the church courts had deprived him of his salary which his congregation was willing to pay to him, had injured him in his standing and reputation as a Christian teacher, and had practically excluded him from the reasonable exercise of the profession by which he lived.
The bill was served on the trustees of the general assembly. They answered that they were not proper parties to the bill; that they had no part in the transactions complained of, but were merely trustees and managers of the property of the church. To sustain their answer they referred to the charter of defendant. The court below on inspection of the charter sustained the answer and dismissed the bill. From this decree plaintiff appeals, assigning for error the action of the court in dismissing his bill.
The plea of the trustees that they are but the custodians of the money and property of the church, and are destitute of power to prepare a defense for it in a lawsuit, therefore could not properly be served with a bill, is apparently an afterthought. It looks more like a narrow view suggested in the consultation room of a worldly lawyer; it certainly is not the broader and common sense view of tlie judiciary committee of the general assembly.
The decree dismissing the bill is reversed, the bill reinstated and defendants are directed to make answer thereto.