Episcopal Church Cases

Opinion

CHIN, J.

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 *473the courts will become impermissibly entangled with religion. Nevertheless, when called on to do so, secular courts must resolve such…