Godbolt v. Clinton Street Greater Bethlehem Temple of Apostolic Faith

The trial judge granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss at the conclusion of the plaintiff’s proofs. We affirm for reasons we now state.

Bishop S. N. Hancock served the defendant, an ecclesiastical corporation, as its pastor from 1921 until his death on August 18,1963. Plaintiffs assert that the by-laws of the church were not followed in the selection of Bishop Hancock’s successor. Plaintiffs ask that an injunction issue prohibiting the present pastor, David Collins, from officiating as pastor, that the board of deacons be reconstituted as it éxisted at the time of Bishop Hancock’s death,…