Whether the First Amendment deprives courts of jurisdiction to enforce the ecclesiastical decisions of religious authorities in an intra-church dispute

QUESTION PRESENTED More than 150 years ago, this Court held that “legal tribunals must accept” the decisions of ruling church authorities as “final” and “binding” in intrachurch disputes that turn on ecclesiastical questions. Watson v. Jones, 80 U.S. (13 Wall.) 679, 727 (1871). This Court has since made clear that the First Amendment compels such deference. See, e.g., Jones v. Wolf, 443 U.S. 595, 602 (1979). That principle should have easily resolved this case. The Assemblies of God is a hierarchical church. Within its structure, Petitioner possesses the authority to supervise local assemblies and exercise direct control over those assemblies that fail to meet the requirements for selfgovernance set forth in the church’s governing documents. When Petitioner exercised that ecclesiastical authority over the Gulf Coast Worship Center, Respondents refused to accept the new pastor that Petitioner had appointed. They instead claimed that the Worship Center had disaffiliated from the Assemblies of God, even though Respondents lacked authority to bind the Worship Center and failed to follow mandatory procedures for disaffiliation. Rather than risk a breach of the peace, Petitioner sought a peaceful resolution in the courts as to control over the Worship Center. But the court below refused to accept Petitioner’s ecclesiastical decisions. It instead held that the First Amendment deprived it of jurisdiction to resolve the matter at all. The question presented is: Whether the First Amendment deprives courts of jurisdiction to enforce the ecclesiastical decisions of religious authorities in an intra-church dispute.