Court Opinion

ID: 9903949
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-11-27 16:11:40.600154+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:20:52.998438
License: Public Domain

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA
                      FIFTH DISTRICT

                                   NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO
                                   FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND
                                   DISPOSITION THEREOF IF FILED

TRUSTEE CORPORATION OF
THE KING STREET BAPTIST
CHURCH, INC.,

            Appellant,

v.                                      Case No.    5D22-209
                                        LT Case No. 05-2017-CA-051569-X

NORTHWEST BAPTIST CHURCH
OF COCOA, INC., BREVARD
BAPTIST ASSOCIATION, INC.,
AND SURFSIDE COMMUNITY
FELLOWSHIP, INC.,

            Appellees.

________________________________/

Opinion filed November 4, 2022

Appeal from the Circuit Court
for Brevard County,
John Dean Moxley, Jr., Judge.

Eric L. Hostetler and Scott
Widerman, of Widerman Malek, P.L.,
Melbourne, for Appellant.

Michael S. Minot, of Minot Law, P.A.,
Cocoa, for Appellees.
WALLIS, J.

      Trustee Corporation of the King Street Baptist Church, Inc. appeals the

trial court's order dismissing the case entered in favor of Northwest Baptist

Church of Cocoa, Inc., Brevard Baptist Association, Inc., and Surfside

Community Fellowship, Inc. When dismissing a complaint, trial courts are

confined to the allegations contained within the four corners of the complaint,

must draw all inferences in favor of the pleader, and must accept all well-

pled allegations as true. Wilmington Sav. Fund Soc'y, FSB v. Contreras, 278

So. 3d 744, 747 (Fla. 5th DCA 2019). Here, the trial court was presented with

a complaint and supporting deeds attached to the complaint. In dismissing

the case, the court failed to accept the allegations in the complaint and the

provisions contained in the deeds as true. See K.C. Quality Care, LLC v.

Direct Gen. Ins. Co., 47 Fla. L. Weekly D1832 (Fla. 5th DCA Sept. 2, 2022)

(trial court improperly dismissed a complaint when it failed to accept

allegations in the complaint as true). Accordingly, we reverse and remand

for further proceedings.

      REVERSED and REMANDED.

COHEN, J., concurs and concurs specially, with opinion.
NARDELLA, J., dissents without opinion.

                                      2
                                   Case No. 5D22-209
                                   LT Case No. 05-2017-CA-051569-X

COHEN, J., concurring specially.

     I concur with the majority opinion. I write to explain that, in my view,

this case requires a determination of whether the dispute can be resolved

utilizing neutral principles of law, as recently noted by our sister court in

Auguste v. Hyacinthe, 346 So. 3d 67, 71 (Fla. 4th DCA 2022) (“[W]hen a

church-related dispute can be resolved by applying neutral principles of law

without inquiry into religious doctrine and without resolving a religious

controversy, the civil courts may adjudicate the dispute.” (quoting Se. Conf.

Ass’n of Seventh-Day Adventists, Inc. v. Dennis, 862 So. 2d 842, 844 (Fla.

4th DCA 2003))).

     I agree with Judge Warner’s partial dissent in Auguste that there must

also be a determination as to whether this church has a hierarchical or

congregational form of governance. Id. at 73. Only the former implicates the

ecclesiastical abstention doctrine. Id. Otherwise, the appellant would have

no forum in which to adjudicate its alleged grievances. As in Auguste, the

landscape of this case could change once those issues have been resolved.

                                     3