CRANDON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A state appeals court upheld a decision allowing a national church organization to close a church in Crandon and sell the property, as well excommunicating the members for opposing the closure.
The Church of God of Crandon was informed in May 2021 by the national Church of God that it intended to merge the church with one in Rhinelander, and sell the property in Crandon.
Crandon sought a court order to stop the sale, but a Forest County court ruled in the national body’s favor. After the suit was filed, the national church excommunicated those members due to their “unruly and uncooperative actions.”
The appeals court ruled Tuesday it cannot intervene.
“Accordingly, a civil court cannot, under the First Amendment, review: whether the 2018 Minutes complied with due process or the Bible; what the COG meant by “unruly or uncooperative”; or whether Cushman properly determined that the excommunicated members were “unruly or uncooperative.” Similarly, the First Amendment prohibits a civil court from examining the International Executive Committee’s review of those issues,” the court wrote. “Under the facts of this case, we must defer to the resolution of any ecclesiastical issues by the International Executive Committee, which denied the excommunicated members’ appeal.”
The appeals court also ordered the Crandon church to pay the governing body’s attorney fees and costs.
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