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