CHURCH OF GOD ET AL. v. CHURCH OF GOD ET AL

Unincorporated associations — Church property — Local congregation — Religious organization — Control of property — Trustees — Conveyance to separatist organization — Use of name by seceding group — Acts of April 6, 1855, P. L. 328 and June 20, 1935, P. L. 353.

1. Under the Act of April 6, 1855, P. L. 328, as amended by the Act of June 20, 1935, P. L. 353, the control of any local religious congregation over property conveyed to its use is to be exercised in accordance with and subject to the regulations and canons of the religious organization to which the local congregation belongs. [484]

2. Trustees to whom property is conveyed for the use of a local congregation which is part of a religious organization hold the property subject to the control of the latter as well as the former, and no action on the part of the congregation can authorize the trustees to impair in any manner the interest of the organization therein. [484-5]

3. A conveyance, by trustees who hold property for the use of a local congregation which is part of a religious organization, to a new organization which does not acknowledge the authority of the original denominational organization, constitutes a breach of trust and is void. [485]

4. A group which secedes from a religious organization may be enjoined from using its name or that of its local congregation. [486-7]

Argued November 26, 1946.