Brown v. Virginia Advent Christian Conference

Plaintiffs filed a motion for judgment seeking to recover compensatory and punitive damages for the razing and destruction of a church building. The defendants were the Virginia Advent Christian Conference, an unincorporated association, and its duly elected officers; the three trustees of Griffith Advent Church, John L. Morgan, Harvey W. Beynolds and Bernard W. Nicely, who, together with Tom Wood, deceased, had been duly appointed trustees for the church by the Circuit Court of Alleghany County.

A plea in abatement was filed challenging the right of the plaintiffs to maintain the action. A…