N.Y. RCO Law § 5 — New York Code / Act RCO / Article 2 / Section 5
General powers and duties of trustees of religious corporations
Status: in_force

§ 5. General powers and duties of trustees of religious corporations.\nThe trustees of every religious corporation shall have the custody and\ncontrol of all the temporalities and property, real and personal,\nbelonging to the corporation and of the revenues therefrom, and shall\nadminister the same in accordance with the discipline, rules and usages\nof the corporation and of the ecclesiastical governing body, if any, to\nwhich the corporation is subject, and with the provisions of law\nrelating thereto, for the support and maintenance of the corporation,\nor, providing the members of the corporation at a meeting thereof shall\nso authorize, of some religious, charitable, benevolent or educational\nobject conducted by said corporation or in connection with it, or with\nthe denomination, if any, with which it is connected; and they shall not\nuse such property or revenues for any other purpose or divert the same\nfrom such uses. They may transfer all or any part of the real or\npersonal estate of such corporation to such bank, trust company, savings\nbank or savings and loan association organized or existing under the\nlaws of the state of New York, or to a national banking association,\nfederal savings bank or federal savings and loan association having a\nprincipal, branch or trust office located in the state of New York as\nmay be designated by them or to a holding company, organized under the\nlaws of the state of New York, of the same religious denomination, such\nproperty to be held in trust or in safekeeping or custody, to collect\nthe income thereof and pay over the same to the trustees of such\nreligious corporation at such times and in such manner as shall be\nagreed upon, and they may also, in their discretion, delegate and grant\nto the trustee or custodian designated by them all or any portion of the\npowers, responsibilities and discretionary authority possessed by them\nwith respect to the retention and the investment and reinvestment of\nsuch property or any part thereof, and may from time to time modify such\npowers delegated by them or designate successor or different trustees or\ncustodians within the limits and subject to the regulations and\nrestrictions contained in this section. The trustees of an incorporated\nRoman Catholic Church, or of a Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church, shall\nnot transfer any property as herein provided without the consent of the\narchbishop or bishop of the diocese to which such church belongs or in\ncase of their absence or inability to act, without the consent of the\nvicar general or administrator of such diocese. By-laws may be adopted\nor amended, by a two-thirds vote of the qualified voters present and\nvoting at the meeting for incorporation or at any subsequent meeting,\nafter written notice, embodying such by-laws or amendment, has been\nopenly given at a previous meeting, and also in the notices of the\nmeeting at which such proposed by-laws or amendment is to be acted upon.\nBy-laws thus adopted or amended shall control the action of the\ntrustees. But this section does not give to the trustees of an\nincorporated church, any control over the calling, settlement, dismissal\nor removal of its minister, or the fixing of his salary; or any power to\nfix or change the times, nature or order of the public or social worship\nof such church.\n