Source: http://californiaslapplaw.com/library-of-cases/arise-from-protected-activity-anti-slapp/
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 20:52:44+00:00

Document:
Action must “arise from” protected activity for the defendant to succeed in an anti-SLAPP motion.
Superior Court, Orange County; David C. Velasquez, Judge.
In this case, a local church has disaffiliated itself from a larger, general church with which it had been affiliated. Both the local church and the general church claim ownership of the local church building and the property on which the building stands. The parties have asked the courts of this state to resolve this dispute. When secular courts are asked to resolve an internal church dispute over property ownership, obvious dangers exist that the courts will become impermissibly entangled with religion. Nevertheless, when called on to do so, secular courts must resolve such disputes. We granted review primarily to decide how the secular courts of this state should resolve disputes over church property.
State courts must not decide questions of religious doctrine; those are for the church to resolve. Accordingly, if resolution of the property dispute involves a doctrinal dispute, the court must defer to the position of the highest ecclesiastical authority that has decided the doctrinal point. But to the extent the court can resolve the property dispute without reference to church doctrine, it should use what the United States Supreme Court has called the “neutral principles of law” approach. ( Jones v. Wolf (1979) 443 U.S. 595, 597, 99 S.Ct. 3020, 61 L.Ed.2d 775.) The court should consider sources such as the deeds to the property in dispute, the local church’s articles of incorporation, the general church’s constitution, canons, and rules, and relevant statutes, including statutes specifically concerning religious property, such as Corporations Code section 9142.
Applying the neutral principles of law approach, we conclude that the general church, not the local church, owns the property in question. Although the deeds to the property have long been in the name of the local church, that church agreed from the beginning of its existence to be part of the greater church and to be bound by its governing documents. These governing documents make clear that church property is held in trust for the general church and may be controlled by the local church only so long as that local church remains a part of the general church. When it disaffiliated from the general church, the local church did not have the right to take the church property with it.
We must also resolve the preliminary procedural question of whether this action is subject to a special motion to dismiss under Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16-generally called an “anti-SLAPP motion.” FN1We conclude that this action is not subject to an anti-SLAPP motion. Although protected activity arguably lurks in the background of this case, the actual dispute concerns property ownership rather than any such protected activity. Accordingly, this action is not one “arising from” protected activity within the meaning of Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16, subdivision (b)(1). Hence, that provision does not apply.
We affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which reached the same conclusions, although not always for the same reasons.
“The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America …, organized in 1789, was the product of secession of the Anglican church in the colonies from the Church of England, the latter church itself being the product of secession from the Church of Rome in 1534.” ( Protestant Episcopal Church v. Barker (1981) 115 Cal.App.3d 599, 606, 171 Cal.Rptr. 541.) The church (hereafter the Episcopal Church) is governed by a general convention and a presiding bishop. In the United States, the Episcopal Church is divided geographically into dioceses, including the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles (Los Angeles Diocese). Each diocese is governed by a diocesan convention and a bishop. A diocese is itself divided into missions and parishes, which are individual churches where members meet to worship. A parish is governed by a rector and a board of elected lay persons called the vestry. (See Protestant Episcopal Church v. Barker, supra, at pp. 606-607, 171 Cal.Rptr. 541.) One such parish within the Los Angeles Diocese was St. James Parish in Newport Beach (St. James Parish).
St. James Parish began as a mission of the Episcopal Church in 1946. In 1947, members of the mission sought permission from the Los Angeles Diocese to organize as a parish. The members’ handwritten application “promise[d] and declare[d] that the said Parish shall be forever held under, and conform to and be bound by, the Ecclesiastical authority of the Bishop of Los Angeles, and of his successor in office, the Constitution and Canons of the [Episcopal Church], and the Constitution and Canons of the Diocese of Los Angeles.” Articles of Incorporation of St. James Parish, filed with the California Secretary of State on March 1, 1949, stated that the corporation was formed “[t]o establish and maintain a Parish which shall form a constituent part of the Diocese of Los Angeles in [the Episcopal Church]; and so that the Constitution and Canons, Rules, Regulations and Discipline of said Church … and the Constitution and Canons in the Diocese of Los Angeles, for the time being shall, unless they be contrary to the laws of this State, always form a part of the By-Laws and Articles of Incorporation of the corporation hereby formed and shall prevail against and govern anything herein contained that may appear repugnant to such Constitutions, Canons, Rules, Regulations and Discipline….” In 1991, St. James Parish amended its articles of incorporation, but it did not modify these provisions.
In 1950, the “Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Los Angeles” deeded the property on which the church building stands to St. James Parish for consideration of “less than $100.00.” The deeds to the property have been in the name of the local church ever since.
Canon II.6 of the canons of the general convention of the Episcopal Church provides: “Sec. 1. No Church or Chapel shall be consecrated until the Bishop shall have been sufficiently satisfied that the building and the ground on which it is erected are secured for ownership and use by a Parish, Mission, Congregation, or Institution affiliated with this Church and subject to its Constitution and Canons.
“Sec. 2. It shall not be lawful for any Vestry, Trustees, or other body authorized by laws of any State or Territory to hold property for any Diocese, Parish or Congregation, to encumber or alienate any dedicated and consecrated Church or Chapel, or any Church or Chapel which has been used solely for Divine Service, belonging to the Parish or Congregation which they represent, without the previous consent of the Bishop, acting with the advice and consent of the Standing Committee of the Diocese.
“Sec. 3. No dedicated and consecrated Church or Chapel shall be removed, taken down, or otherwise disposed of for any worldly or common use, without the previous consent of the Standing Committee of the Diocese.
The record shows, and no one disputes, that the Episcopal Church first adopted the original versions of sections 2 and 3 of Canon II.6 in 1868. It added section 1 of that Canon in 1871 and section 4 in 1979 when it amended Canon I.7.
Recently, as a result of a doctrinal dispute, St. James Parish disaffiliated itself from the Episcopal Church. It appears that the dispute leading to the decision to disaffiliate arose after the national church ordained an openly gay man as a bishop in New Hampshire in 2003. Some members of the Episcopal Church, including members of St. James Parish, disagreed with this ordination. In July 2004, the board of St. James Parish voted to end its affiliation with the Episcopal Church and to affiliate with the Anglican Church of Uganda. A majority of the congregation voted to support the decision. After the disaffiliation, a further dispute arose as to who owned the church building that St. James Parish used for worship and the property on which the building stands-the local church that left the Episcopal Church or the higher church authorities.
To resolve this dispute, the Los Angeles Diocese and various individuals, including a dissenter from the decision by St. James Parish to disaffiliate (hereafter collectively Los Angeles Diocese), sued various individuals connected with St. James Parish (defendants) alleging eight property-recovery-related causes of action. Later, the national Episcopal Church successfully sought to intervene on the side of the Los Angeles Diocese and filed its own complaint in intervention against defendants. In essence, both sides in this litigation, i.e., defendants on one side, and the Los Angeles Diocese and Episcopal Church allied on the other side, claim ownership of the local church building and property on which it stands.
The defendants moved to strike the Los Angeles Diocese’s lawsuit as a SLAPP suit under Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16. The trial court granted the motion and dismissed the action without leave to amend, finding both that the action was a SLAPP suit and that the plaintiffs had not established a probability that they would prevail. The court later sustained without leave to amend defendants’ demurrer to the Episcopal Church’s complaint in intervention and dismissed that action. The Los Angeles Diocese and the Episcopal Church appealed the dismissals. The Court of Appeal consolidated the appeals and reversed the judgments. That court ruled that the action was not a SLAPP suit subject to the special motion to strike, and that the higher church authorities, not defendants, own the disputed property.
We granted review to decide both whether this action is subject to the special motion to strike under Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16 and the merits of the church property dispute.
Before considering the merits of the property dispute, we must decide a preliminary procedural question. Subdivision (b)(1) of Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16 (section 425.16) provides: “A cause of action against a person arising from any act of that person in furtherance of the person’s right of petition or free speech under the United States or California Constitution in connection with a public issue shall be subject to a special motion to strike, unless the court determines that the plaintiff has established that there is a probability that the plaintiff will prevail on the claim.” Defendants filed a special motion to strike under this section-a “so-called anti-SLAPP motion.” (Ketchum v. Moses (2001) 24 Cal.4th 1122, 1131, 104 Cal.Rptr.2d 377, 17 P.3d 735.) The trial court found that section 425.16 governs the action the Los Angeles Diocese filed and, further finding the plaintiffs had not shown a probability they would prevail, granted the special motion to strike. The Court of Appeal concluded that the action was not a SLAPP suit. We agree with the Court of Appeal.
“[S]ection 425.16 requires that a court engage in a two-step process when determining whether a defendant’s anti-SLAPP motion should be granted. First, the court decides whether the defendant has made a threshold showing that the challenged cause of action is one ‘arising from’ protected activity. (§ 425.16, subd. (b)(1).) If the court finds such a showing has been made, it then must consider whether the plaintiff has demonstrated a probability of prevailing on the claim.”( City of Cotati v. Cashman (2002) 29 Cal.4th 69, 76, 124 Cal.Rptr.2d 519, 52 P.3d 695.) Defendants argue that this action arose from their protected activity in first expressing disagreement with the higher church authorities regarding church governance and then disaffiliating from the general church.
“[T]he mere fact that an action was filed after protected activity took place does not mean the action arose from that activity for the purposes of the anti-SLAPP statute. [Citation.] Moreover, that a cause of action arguably may have been ‘triggered’ by protected activity does not entail that it is one arising from such. [Citation.] In the anti-SLAPP context, the critical consideration is whether the cause of action is based on the defendant’s protected free speech or petitioning activity.”( Navellier v. Sletten (2002) 29 Cal.4th 82, 89, 124 Cal.Rptr.2d 530, 52 P.3d 703.) In filing this action, the Los Angeles Diocese sought to resolve a property dispute.The property dispute is based on the fact that both sides claim ownership of the same property. This dispute, and not any protected activity, is “the gravamen or principal thrust” of the action. ( Martinez v. Metabolife Internat., Inc. (2003) 113 Cal.App.4th 181, 193, 6 Cal.Rptr.3d 494.) The additional fact that protected activity may lurk in the background-and may explain why the rift between the parties arose in the first place-does not transform a property dispute into a SLAPP suit. Accordingly, the trial court erred in treating this as a SLAPP suit subject to section 425.16′s special motion to dismiss.
Both lower courts also decided the merits of the dispute over ownership of the local church-the trial court in favor of the local church and the Court of Appeal in favor of the general church. We will also decide this question, which the parties as well as various amici curiae have fully briefed. We will first consider what method the secular courts of this state should use to resolve disputes over church property. We will then apply that method to resolve the dispute of this case.
A statute governing specifically church property obviously is not developed for use in all property disputes, but, as the high court has made clear, it may still be considered in applying neutral principles of law as that court defines the term. Such a statute is-or must be-neutral in the sense that it does not require state courts to resolve questions of religious doctrine.
FN5. The Georgia Supreme Court had also resolved a dispute over which of two local factions properly represented the local church. The high court was concerned that the Georgia Supreme Court had not adequately explained its reasoning. Specifically, the Georgia Supreme Court did not explain whether it simply applied majority rule-which the high court indicated would be permissible-or whether the decision “involve[d] considerations of religious doctrine and polity”-which the high court indicated would not be permissible. ( Jones v. Wolf, supra, 443 U.S. at p. 608.) The high court remanded the matter to permit the Georgia Supreme Court to articulate the reasons it concluded one particular faction represented the local church. (Id. at pp. 609-610.)This case presents no such issue.
FN6. In a case not involving a church property dispute, we described “the rule that the state must accept the decision of appropriate church authorities on … matters [of religious doctrine and internal church governance]” as “the rule of the so-called church property cases.”( Catholic Charities of Sacramento, Inc. v. Superior Court (2004) 32 Cal.4th 527, 541, 10 Cal.Rptr.3d 283, 85 P.3d 67.) AsJones v. Wolf, supra, 443 U.S. 595, 99 S.Ct. 3020, 61 L.Ed.2d 775, makes clear, this rule does indeed apply to church property cases even under the neutral principles approach. Because no church property dispute existed in Catholic Charities of Sacramento, Inc. v. Superior Court, we did not consider whether neutral principles of law can be used to resolve such disputes.
 The Court of Appeal in this case criticized these Court of Appeal decisions for, in its view, violating principles of stare decisis. The Court of Appeal believed that early cases of this court specifically adopted the principle of government approach, thus precluding the more recent Courts of Appeal from adopting the neutral principles approach. We disagree. As explained in the Court of Appeal opinion containing the most thorough examination of this question ( Presbytery of Riverside, supra, 89 Cal.App.3d 910, 152 Cal.Rptr. 854), the principle of government method of Watson v. Jones, supra, 13 Wall. 679, 80 U.S. 679, 20 L.Ed. 666, and the neutral principles method of Jones v. Wolf, supra, 443 U.S. 595, 99 S.Ct. 3020, 61 L.Ed.2d 775, are not mutually exclusive, but can be reconciled.FN7In any event, this court unquestionably has authority to adopt the neutral principles approach.
 The Presbytery of Riverside court also discussed early decisions of this court and concluded that, although they cited and applied the rule of Watson v. Jones, supra, 13 Wall. 679, 80 U.S. 679, 20 L.Ed. 666, they do not preclude use of neutral principles of law to decide church property disputes that do not turn on questions of church doctrine. ( Presbytery of Riverside, supra, 89 Cal.App.3d at pp. 922-923, 152 Cal.Rptr. 854.) As did the court in Protestant Episcopal Church v. Barker, supra, 115 Cal.App.3d at page 614, 171 Cal.Rptr. 541 (and implicitly the more recent Court of Appeal decisions using the neutral principles approach), we find the discussion in Presbytery of Riverside, supra, 89 Cal.App.3d 910, 152 Cal.Rptr. 854, persuasive. Subject to the proviso that secular courts may not decide questions of church doctrine, we believe that California courts should use neutral principles of law to decide church property disputes.
St. James Parish holds record title to the property in question. That is the fact that defendants rely on most heavily in claiming ownership. On the other hand, from the beginning of its existence, St. James Parish promised to be bound by the constitution and canons of the Episcopal Church. Such commitment is found in the original application to the higher church authorities to organize as a parish and in the articles of incorporation. Canon I.7.4, adopted in 1979, provides that property held by a local parish “is held in trust” for the general church and the diocese in which the local church is located. The same canon states that the trust does not limit the authority of the parish over the property “so long as the particular Parish … remains a part of, and subject to, this Church and its Constitution and Canons.”Other canons adopted long before St. James Parish existed also contained substantial restrictions on the local use of church property.
The question before us is, which prevails-the fact that St. James Parish holds record title to the property, or the facts that it is bound by the constitution and canons of the Episcopal Church and the canons impress a trust in favor of the general church? In deciding this question, we are not entirely free from constitutional constraints. Once again, Jones v. Wolf, supra, 443 U.S. 595, 99 S.Ct. 3020, 61 L.Ed.2d 775, is important to this question. Although that decision permitted the states to use the neutral principles approach, it also made clear that in applying that approach, state courts must neither become entangled in religious matters nor, especially important to the instant dispute, violate the First Amendment right to free exercise of religion. Jones v. Wolf was a five-to-four decision, with the dissent arguing that the First Amendment compels use of the principle-of-government approach of Watson v. Jones, supra, 13 Wall. 679, 80 U.S. 679, 20 L.Ed. 666-under which the higher church authorities would necessarily win. Normally, the dissent would not be of great significance to this court, because we are bound by the majority opinion concerning federal constitutional questions. But the majority responded to some of the dissent’s specific arguments. The dissent is important to give context and meaning to the majority’s response.
The dissent argued that “in each case involving an intrachurch dispute-including disputes over church property-the civil court must focus directly on ascertaining, and then following, the decision made within the structure of church governance…. [B]y recognizing the authoritative resolution reached within the religious association, the civil court avoids interfering indirectly with the religious governance of those who have formed the association and submitted themselves to its authority.”(Jones v. Wolf, supra, 443 U.S. at p. 618, fn. omitted (dis. opn. of Powell, J.).) The majority responded to this point, which it described as an argument “that a rule of compulsory deference is necessary in order to protect the free exercise rights ‘of those who have formed the association and submitted themselves to its authority.’” (Jones v. Wolf, supra, at pp. 605-606.)Significantly, the majority did not deny that free exercise rights require a secular court to defer to decisions made within a religious association when local churches have submitted themselves to the authority of that association. Rather, the majority argued that the neutral principles approach is consistent with this requirement.
Thus, the high court’s discussion in Jones v. Wolf, supra, 443 U.S. at page 606, together with the Episcopal Church’s adoption of Canon I.7.4 in response, strongly supports the conclusion that, once defendants left the general church, the property reverted to the general church. Moreover, Canon I.7.4 is consistent with earlier-enacted canons that, although not using the word “trust,”impose substantial limitations on the local parish’s use of church property and give the higher church authorities substantial authority over that property. For example, permitting a disaffiliating local church to take the property with it when it reaffiliates with a different church is inconsistent with the prohibition of Canon II.6, section 2, against encumbering or alienating local property without the previous consent of higher church authorities. Thus, a strong argument exists that Canon I.7.4 merely codified what had long been implicit. As we discuss below, this is the conclusion reached by some of the out-of-state decisions that awarded property to the national Episcopal Church in similar disputes.
This statute appears to be the type of statute the United States Supreme Court had in mind when it approved reliance on “provisions of state statutory law governing the holding of property by religious corporations….” ( Md. & Va. Churches v. Sharpsburg Ch., supra, 396 U.S. at p. 367, fn. omitted.) Justice Brennan fleshed out the point in his concurring opinion in that case. He explained that one possible approach to resolving church property disputes “is the passage of special statutes governing church property arrangements in a manner that precludes state interference in doctrine. Such statutes must be carefully drawn to leave control of ecclesiastical polity, as well as doctrine, to church governing bodies.” (Id. at p. 370 (conc. opn. of Brennan, J.).) Section 9142, subdivisions (c) and (d), does not permit state interference in religious doctrine and leaves control of ecclesiastical policy and doctrine to the church. Subdivision (c) of that section permits the governing instruments of the general church to create an express trust in church property, which Canon I.7.4 does. Subdivision (d) permits changing a trust, but only if done in the instrument that created it. Canon I.7.4 has not been amended. So it would appear that this statute also compels the conclusion that the general church owns the property now that defendants have left the general church.
 Defendants argue that section 9142 states only a negative conditional, not a positive imperative. In other words, in their view, the statutory provisions are minimum requirements for impression of a trust on local religious property, and do not necessarily exclude other requirements therefor. Defendants focus on the grammatical construction of subdivision (c), and its repeated use of the word “unless.” As defendants would have it, there is never a trust “unless” one of the statutory provisions is present, but this does not mean there is always a trust when one or more of the provisions ispresent. But this interpretation overlooks subdivision (d) of section 9142. That subdivision provides that “[t]rusts created by paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) may be amended or dissolved by amendment from time to time to the articles, bylaws, or governing instruments creating the trusts .…”(Italics added.) Thus, subdivision (d) appears clearly to indicate that, under California law, a trust is created by compliance with any one of the alternatives set forth in subdivision (c)(2), and it can only be altered or dissolved by amending the creating instrument.
Other Episcopal Church cases reaching similar conclusions include Bishop and Diocese of Colorado v. Mote (Colo.1986) 716 P.2d 85; Episcopal Diocese of Mass. v. Devine (Mass.App.Ct.2003) 59 Mass.App.Ct. 722, 797 N.E.2d 916 (relying on Canon I.7.4 and the fact the local church had agreed to accede to the general church’s canons); Bennison v. Sharp (Mich.Ct.App.1983) 121 Mich.App. 705, 329 N.W.2d 466; Protestant Episc. Church, etc. v. Graves (N.J.1980) 83 N.J. 572, 417 A.2d 19;The Diocese v. Trinity Epis. Church (App.Div.1999) 250 A.D.2d 282, 684 N.Y.S.2d 76, 81 (“[T]he ‘Dennis Canon’ amendment expressly codifies a trust relationship which has implicitly existed between the local parishes and their dioceses throughout the history of the Protestant Episcopal Church,” citing Rector, Wardens v. Episcopal Church, supra, 224 Conn. 797, 620 A.2d 1280); Daniel v. Wray (N.C.Ct.App.2003) 158 N.C.App. 161, 580 S.E.2d 711 (relying on Canon I.7.4); In re Church of St. James the Less (Pa.2005) 585 Pa. 428, 888 A.2d 795 (relying on Canon I.7.4 and citing Rector, Wardens v. Episcopal Church, supra, 224 Conn. 797, 620 A.2d 1280). The court in Bjorkman v. Protestant Episcopal Church (Ky.1988) 759 S.W.2d 583 awarded the property to the local church, but there the dispute arose before the high court decision of Jones v. Wolf, supra, 443 U.S. 595, 99 S.Ct. 3020, 61 L.Ed.2d 775, the opinion did not mention Canon I.7.4, and the decision has not been followed by other jurisdictions. These out-of-state decisions are not binding on this court, but we find them persuasive, especially in the aggregate.
FN8. See Bishop and Diocese of Colorado v. Mote, supra, 716 P.2d at pages 108-109;id., footnote 17 (“[W]e find the holding in Barker inapplicable and decline to follow it”); Rector, Wardens v. Episcopal Church, supra, 620 A.2d at page 1285 (“declin[ing] to follow” Barker ); Episcopal Diocese of Mass. v. Devine, supra, 797 N.E.2d at page 924, footnote 21; Bennison v. Sharp, supra, 329 N.W.2d at pages 473-474.
Defendants also cite California-Nevada Annual Conf. of the United Methodist Church v. St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, supra, 121 Cal.App.4th 754, 17 Cal.Rptr.3d 442(St.Luke’s ), which interpreted section 9142. The court in that case concluded that there had been a trust in favor of the general church, but that the deeds to the local property and the local church’s articles of incorporation, not the general church’s governing instruments, created the trust. (See St. Luke’s, supra, at p. 770, 17 Cal.Rptr.3d 442 [“The Book of Discipline [i.e., the general church’s governing instrument] did not, by itself, ‘create’ the trust.”].) Accordingly, it concluded that the local church could, and did, revoke the trust. (Id. at p. 771, 17 Cal.Rptr.3d 442.) We need not decide whether St. Luke’s was correct on its facts because, assuming its conclusion was factually correct, the decision is distinguishable. Here, the general church’s canons, not instruments of the local church, created the trust. The language of section 9142, subdivision (d), requires any revocation of that trust to exist in the document that created it. So, assuming the local church in St. Luke’s may have been able to revoke the trust of that case, nothing in section 9142 or the governing instruments of the Episcopal Church suggests that defendants may do so in this case.
 Defendants argue that such a reading of section 9142 “would unconstitutionally promote and establish denominational religion.” We need not, indeed, cannot consider all possible applications of section 9142, but as applied here, the section is fully consistent with Jones v. Wolf, supra, 443 U.S. at page 606, and promotes the free exercise rights of persons to form and join a religious association that is constructed and governed as they choose. Defendants also suggest that the Episcopal Church did not properly adopt Canon I.7.4 under its own rules. It is a bit late to argue that Canon I.7.4 was not effectively adopted, a quarter of a century later, and, in light of the consistent conclusions of the out-of-state cases that that canon is, indeed, part of the Episcopal Church’s governing documents, the argument seems dubious at best. But, in any event, this is one of those questions regarding “religious doctrine or polity” (or, as we phrased it in Catholic Charities of Sacramento, Inc. v. Superior Court, supra, 32 Cal.4th at page 541, 10 Cal.Rptr.3d 283, 85 P.3d 67,”religious doctrine and internal church governance”) on which we must defer to the greater church’s resolution. ( Jones v. Wolf, supra,443 U.S. at p. 602.) Over the years, the Episcopal Church has consistently taken the position that Canon I.7.4 was effectively adopted.
Defendants state that, over the years, St. James Parish “purchased additional parcels of property in its own name, with funds donated exclusively by its members.” They contend that it would be unjust and contrary to the intent of the members who, they argue, “acquired, built, improved, maintained, repaired, cared for and used the real and personal property at issue for over fifty years,” to cause the local parish to “los[e] its property simply because it has changed its spiritual affiliation.” But the matter is not so clear. We may assume that St. James Parish’s members did what defendants say they did for all this time. But they did it for a local church that was a constituent member of a greater church and that promised to remain so. Did they act over the years intending to contribute to a church that was part of the Episcopal Church or to contribute to St. James Parish even if it later joined a different church? It is impossible to say for sure. Probably different contributors over the years would have had different answers if they had thought about it and were asked. The only intent a secular court can effectively discern is that expressed in legally cognizable documents. In this case, those documents show that the local church agreed and intended to be part of a larger entity and to be bound by the rules and governing documents of that greater entity.
We affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeal.
WE CONCUR: GEORGE, C.J., BAXTER, WERDEGAR, MORENO, and CORRIGAN, JJ.Concurring and Dissenting Opinion by KENNARD, J.
I agree with the majority that the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America (Episcopal Church) owns the property to which St. James Parish in Newport Beach (St. James Parish) has held title since 1950. This conclusion is compelled by Corporations Code section 9142, subdivision (c)(2). But I disagree with the majority that this provision, which applies only to religious corporations, reflects a “neutral principles of law” approach.
St. James Parish began in 1947 as a mission of the Episcopal Church. In 1949, it incorporated and became a parish of the Episcopal Church. Since 1950, the parish has held the deed to the property on which the parish’s church building stands. Ownership of the property is at issue here.
In 1979, the Episcopal Church added section 4 to its Canon I.7 to provide that all property held by any of its parishes is held in trust for the Episcopal Church. In 2004, St. James Parish ended its affiliation with the Episcopal Church, and it amended its articles of incorporation to delete any reference to the Episcopal Church.
Thereafter, the Episcopal Church, its Los Angeles Diocese, and a congregation member who voted against the decision of the parish to disaffiliate brought these actions, asserting that the property at issue was being held in trust for the Episcopal Church. The trial court ruled for St. James Parish; the Court of Appeal reversed. This court granted review.
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution, made applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment ( Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940) 310 U.S. 296, 303-304, 60 S.Ct. 900, 84 L.Ed. 1213), states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof….” Because of the risks of inhibiting the free development of religion and entangling secular interests in ecclesiastical concerns, the “First Amendment severely circumscribes the role that civil courts may play in resolving church property disputes.”( Presbyterian Church v. Hull Church (1969) 393 U.S. 440, 449, 89 S.Ct. 601, 21 L.Ed.2d 658.) In this regard, the United States Supreme Court has identified two constitutionally permissible approaches that civil courts may use when called upon to resolve disputes relating to church property.
In 1982, the California Legislature amended Corporations Code section 9142 by adding, as relevant here, subdivision (c)(2). That provision permits the assets of a religious corporation to be made subject to a trust when “the articles or bylaws of the corporation, or the governing instruments of a superior religious body or general church of which the corporation is a member, so expressly provide.”Thus, as the majority notes (maj. opn., ante, at pp. 23-24), through legislative fiat a “superior religious body or general church” may unilaterally create trusts in its favor over property held by the smaller church that was a member of the general church when the trust was created. That occurred here when in 1979 the Episcopal Church added section 4 to its Canon I.7 to unilaterally provide that all property held by any parish is held in trust for the Episcopal Church.
Applying California’s statute in resolving church property disputes, the majority concludes that the Episcopal Church now is the owner of the St. James Parish property in question. I agree.
But that conclusion is not based on neutral principles of law.FN1No principle of trust law exists that would allow the unilateral creation of a trust by the declaration of a nonowner of property that the owner of the property is holding it in trust for the nonowner. ( California-Nevada Annual Conf. of the United Methodist Church v. St. Luke’s United Methodist Church (2004) 121 Cal.App.4th 754, 769, 17 Cal.Rptr.3d 442.) If a neutral principle of law approach were applied here, the Episcopal Church might well lose because the 1950 deed to the disputed property is in the name of St. James Parish, FN2 and the Episcopal Church’s 1979 declaration that the parish was holding the property in trust for the Episcopal Church is of no legal consequence.
But under the principle of government approach, the Episcopal Church wins because that method makes the decision of the highest authority of a hierarchical church, here the Episcopal Church, binding on a civil court. This result is constitutional, but only because the dispute involves religious bodies and then only because the principle of government approach, permissible under the First Amendment, allows a state to give unbridled deference to the superior religious body or general church.
In my view, Corporations Code section 9142 reflects the principle of government approach. That statute allows a hierarchical church, such as the Episcopal Church here, through its bylaws to unilaterally impose a trust on the property of a local member parish. The statute does not state a neutral principle of law; rather, it creates a special principle applicable solely to religious corporations.

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