Askew v. Trs., Gen. Assembly Church, No. 11-1916 (3d Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CaseThe Church of the Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith was founded by Johnson in 1919. In 1947, Johnson established a non-profit corporation to hold and manage the assets of the Church. Following a 1992 schism, two factions claimed authority over the Church and ownership of church assets. In 2000 Pennsylvania courts concluded that Kenneth Shelton was the rightful General Overseer of the Church. Askew was a member of the faction loyal to Roddy Shelton. He does not accept Bishop Kenneth Shelton as the General Overseer of the Church. On multiple occasions since the schism, Bishop Shelton declared all followers of Roddy Shelton nonmembers of the Church. Asserting claims on behalf of himself as a church member and derivatively on behalf of the Church, Askew sued, alleging that Bishop Shelton and officers of the affiliated Board of Trustees misappropriated church assets and breached their fiduciary duties to the Church. The district court dismissed. The Third Circuit affirmed, holding that as a nonmember, Askew lacked standing and that First Amendment non-entanglement principles shields membership decisions from civil court review.
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