No. 18-636

The Pure Presbyterian Church of Washington, et al. v. The Grace of God Presbyterian Church

Lower Court: Virginia
Docketed: 2018-11-16
Status: Dismissed
Type: Paid
Tags: church-property civil-procedure constitutional-competence ecclesiastical-abstention establishment-clause first-amendment free-exercise merger-analysis neutral-principles religious-freedom religious-organizations subject-matter-jurisdiction
Key Terms:
FirstAmendment
Latest Conference: 2019-01-18
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether the trial court's determination that Grace Presbyterian was the successor church to Pure Presbyterian, which was held to have been extinguished by merger, is beyond the constitutional competence of a secular court to resolve, even employing neutral standards, and thus was entered without subject matter jurisdiction

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTION PRESENTED The trial court entered its Final Order disposing, inter alia, of Church Property, predicated upon a judicial determination that Grace Presbyterian was the successor church to Pure Presbyterian, which was held to have been extinguished by merger. The question presented is whether this determination is beyond the constitutional competence of a secular court to resolve, even employing neutral standards, and thus was entered without subject matter jurisdiction.

Docket Entries

2019-01-18
Petition Dismissed - Rule 46.
2019-01-17
Stipulation to dismiss the petition for a writ of certiorari under Rule 46.1 filed.
2019-01-02
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/18/2019.
2018-11-13
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due December 17, 2018)

Attorneys

The Pure Presbyterian Church of Washington, et al.
Earle Duncan Getchell Jr.McGuire Woods LLP, Petitioner