CHURCH DISPUTE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 98, 27 April 1932, Page 8

CHURCH DISPUTE.

OWNERSHIP OF BUILDING.

JUDGE MAKES NO ORDER.

QUESTION OF JURISDICTION.

No order has been made by the Court in the dispute between Edward Charles Frost, sole surviving trustee of the United Methodist Free Church, at the corner of Mount Eden Road and Valley Road, and the congregation worshipping in that building.

A petition was brought by Mr. Frost for an order approving the church being made over to the Salvation Army. It was contended that there were now no Free Methodists at. Mount Eden worshipping in the building, and that the Salvation Army was the only religious body of a substantial and permanent character that was not possessed of a place of worship in the neighbourhood. The petition was opposed by the congregation holding services in the church. In his judgment, issued to-day, Mr. Justice Smith said, in his opinion, no order such as was sought should be made at the present time, if, indeed, it ever ought to be made. After reviewing the evidence at length, his Honor said the jurisdiction of a judge to deal with the scheme depended on the question whether it had become impossible, or impracticable, or inconvenient, to carry out the trust upon which the property of the church was held. Where it did not appear that the question of jurisdiction lent itself to summary determination it must be considered whether other and more appropriate proceedings were available. Under the Religious, Charitable and Educational Trusts Act, of 1908, the remission of all the parties concerned, including, among them, the AttorneyGeneral, was necessary to conclude that a scheme came under the jurisdiction of a judge. In the present case, the Attor-ney-General's views upon the nature of the trust had not been expressed, that there was serious difference between the parties, upon the question of the terms of the original trust, and whether they were being performed to-day.

His Honor held that such issues as arose upon the case ought not to be determined in the present proceedings. They were not, in a case of difficulty, matters for summary determination, and he thought he was justified in declining to consider the question of jurisdiction until an action had been brought to determine the issues raised, to which action the Attorney-General must be a party. He was by no means impressed with the view that to apply the property for the purposes of the Salvation Army would be to apply it in the manner which most nearly approximated to what might reasonably be regarded as the original object of the trust. It was only proper to say that the Salvation Army took up the attitude that it was present to abide by the decision of the Court.

No order was made and the petition was adjourned sine die.