Lutheran Church v. Christian

── Lutheran Church v. Christian ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Date: June 04, 2026 Category: Private Civil Diversity Case: 25-50130 Document: 146-1 Page: 1 Date Filed: 06/04/2026 United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit ____________ FILED June 4, 2026 No. 25-50130 ____________ Lyle W. Cayce Clerk The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, a Missouri nonprofit corporation, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus Donald Christian; Christopher Bannwolf; John Does 1- 12; Concordia University Texas Incorporated, Defendants-Appellees. ______________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas USDC No. 1:23-CV-1042 ______________________________ Before Elrod, Chief Judge, and Jones and Graves, Circuit Judges. Edith H. Jones, Circuit Judge: In his first Epistle to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul cautions believers against taking their disputes to the secular courts. 1 Corinthians 6:1. Unfortunately, litigation within a church is sometimes unavoidable. In such cases, however, the courts of this country are infused with a history of religious tolerance and are guided more specifically by the First Amendment to interfere as little as possible in the affairs that constitute governance of ecclesiastical bodies. See Our Lady of Guadalupe Sch. v. Morrissey-Berru, 591 Case: 25-50130 Document: 146-1 Page: 2 Date Filed: 06/04/2026 No. 25-50130 U.S. 732, 746, 140 S. Ct. 2049, 2060 (2020); McRaney v. N. Am. Mission Bd. of the S. Baptist Convention, Inc., 157 F.4th 627, 633–34 (5th Cir. 2025). The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, a Missouri nonprofit corporation, was forced to seek judicial restoration of control over Concordia University, an “agency” of the church in Austin, Texas. Taking advantage of the church’s unique governance structure, the University responded by asserting lack of diversity of citizenship. The district court agreed. It reached this result only by overlaying a secular corporate law interpretation on the church’s spiritually crafted governance documents, and then imposing Texas unincorporated association law on the Lutheran Church, whose special status has been recognized by Missouri law for more than a hundred years. The district court’s ruling quintessentially violated the church autonomy doctrine. The judgment of dismissal is REVERSED and REMANDED. BACKGROUND The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (“the Synod” or “the Church”) was founded in 1847. The Synod incorporated under Missouri law a nonprofit corporation, the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (“LCMS”), to manage its civil affairs in 1894. LCMS was organized to reflect the Lutheran “two kingdoms” doctrine which “maintains a distinction between spiritual and secular authorities.” The Church believes its identity and mission are “not of this world” based on Biblical Scripture. Although these entities share the same name, constitution, bylaws, board of directors, president, and officers, they have distinct roles. The Synod manages Church spiritual affairs like supervising doctrine and religious practice and governing the church body. LCMS manages the Synod’s civil affairs including its property, bank accounts, contracts, assets, and employees. In the