Key point 6-12.04. Most courts refuse to intervene in church disputes concerning the validity of a membership meeting that was not conducted in accordance with the procedural requirements specified in the church's governing documents. However, some courts are willing to intervene in such disputes if they can do so without inquiring into religious doctrine or polity.
As noted in the previous section, many courts have been willing to resolve challenges to the legality of actions taken by a church during a membership meeting that was conducted in violation of procedural requirements (i.e., notice, quorum, or voting) specified in the church's governing documents, so long as no interpretation of church doctrine is required.[400] Third Missionary Baptist Church v. Garrett, 158 N.W.2d 771 (Iowa 1968); Hollins v. Edmonds, 616 S.W.2d 801 (Ky. 1981); Bangor Spiritualist Church, Inc. v. Littlefield, ...
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