Document Fragment View

Matching Fragments

In or about 1895, some American Missionaries established a religious institution (Church) at Valsad for propagation of protestant faith of Christian religion and to establish and manage the churches for the people professing that faith. The object of the 'Brethren Church' was to propagate the work of the church of the brethren in western India in order to reveal Christ by means of evangelistic, educational, medical, literary, industrial school, social and charitable activities leading to the establishment of the kingdom of God. A Continuation Committee is said to have been appointed in the year 1930 by the representatives of the Brethren Church and other churches in a Round Table Conference held in New Delhi with a view to consider the modalities and other details for amalgamation of churches. The Committee is said to have worked out a broad basis for the unification of churches which was accepted by the participant churches whereupon a new committee came into being in the year 1951. The First District Church of the Brethren in India (Brethren Church) was registered as a religious society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 bearing Registration No.1202/44; the object whereof was to promote the work of the church of the brethren in Western India with the same object wherefor the church was established. Another Round Table Conference is said to have been held in the year 1951 at New Delhi resulting in appointment of a new committee known as 'Negotiating Committee' in order to continue deliberations for the union of churches; five other associations were included in the Committee, namely, The Council of the Baptist Churches in North India, The Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon, The Methodist Church (British and Australian Conference), The Methodist Church in Southern Asia and The United Church o Northern India. The Brethren Church (First District Church of the Brethren) was registered as a public trust in Gujarat bearing No.E-643, Bharuch in terms of the BPT Act. The Negotiating Committee made its final recommendations which came to be known as the '4th Plan of the Union' which was published in a book entitled 'Plan of Church Union in North India and Pakistan'; the principal recommendation of the Committee being that all the six uniting churches should be dissolved and united to become one church to be known as "The Church of Northern India" (hereinafter referred to as "the CNI) which should be the legal continuation and successor of the united churches and all the properties, assets, obligations etc. thereof would vest in or devolve on CNI. The booklet of the 4th Plan is said to have been circulated to the governing bodies of the uniting churches with a view to enable them to deliberate thereover and to take appropriate decision in that behalf.
The records do not show that the said company had ever taken any decision as regard control and management of the Trust and/ or had dealt with the properties belonging to the Brethren Church.
It is also not in dispute that local churches or congregations which desired to function on the basis of the old constitution were at liberty to do so till the 3rd Ordinary Synod of C.N.I. which was to be held in 1977.
According to the plaintiffs, most of the churches or congregations under the Gujarat Diocesan Council implemented the said chapter. The church or congregation at Valsad although decided to adopt the said constitution, but it is contended that in the intervening period the property Committee (Property Trust Board) of the former Brethren Church continued to manage the properties, estate, etc. of Valsad Church as an agent of and on behalf of the Gujarat Diocesan Council.
The defendant Nos. 1 to 4 who were residents of Valsad and Navsari; took exceptions to the decision of the Synod to terminate the interim period with effect from 7th October, 1977 and held a meeting on 12th November, 1978.
A resolution had been adopted by the said defendants along with others asserting that their independent unit would hold all the movable and immovable properties, deposit in a bank and cash in hand of the church in its properties wherefor a special committee was constituted.
The defendant Nos. 2 to 4 are said to the members of the said committee and defendant No. 1 claims to be the Pastor of the Brethren Church. Admittedly, a decision of the executive committee of the Gujarat Diocesan Council taken by it at its meeting held on 11th November, 1978 was stated to be illegal by the defendant Nos. 1 to 4. It is averred:
"The defendants Nos. 1 and 2 also claim to be the Treasurer and Secretary respectively of the said "Valsad Brethren Church". These dissidents are acting in the name of the former Brethren Church and have been writing letters as office bearers of former Brethren Church to the Valsad District Co-operative Bank, the Ankleshwar Branch of the Broach District Central Co-operative Bank etc., asking them not to deal with the members of the legally constituted Pastorate committee of Ankleshwar and Valsad and asserting that they are the only persons legally entitled to deal with the financial affairs of the Ankleshwar and Valsad Pastorates. Besides, defendant No. 2, styling as a secretary of Brethren Church has complained to the authorities that the 20 local Pastorates under the Gujarat Diocesan Council do not function in the name of Brethren Church and do not collect funds in the name of the Brethren Church. A similar complaint was made by him to the Assistant Charity Commissioner Broach who had the matter inquired into. The defendant No. 2, again, purporting to act as a Secretary of the Valsad Brethren Church, wrote a letter on 20th June, 1979 to the legally elected Treasurer of the Ankleshwar church challenging the latter's authority to act as such Treasurer.