The Free Church of England Central Trust v Revd Steven Hanna & Ors

Facts

The Free Church of England ("FCE") is a nonconformist denomination founded in the mid-nineteenth century out of the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion, constituted by a deed poll and declaration of trust dated 31 August 1863, which united in 1927 with the Reformed Episcopal Church. The claimant, incorporated in 1941, acts as the FCE's central trustee. In 2023, for the second time, the congregation of Christ Church Exeter resolved to leave the FCE, contending that the denomination's bishops and Convocation had drifted towards Anglo-Catholicism and departed from the church's founding Protestant and Calvinist principles. The first defendant had been appointed minister there in March 2020, though the appointment was revoked and his permission to officiate withdrawn in June 2022; he and the second to fourth defendants are the trustees of the registered charity Christ Church Exeter (charity number 1138246), registered on 4 October 2010 following adoption of a constitution on 6 February 2010. The congregation remains in occupation of the church at Grosvenor Place, the adjacent Schoolrooms Site and the former manse at 140 Pinhoe Road. The claimant issued this Part 8 charity claim, the Charity Commission having given permission under section 115 of the Charities Act 2011 and the Attorney-General being joined but taking no active part, to determine the terms on which the properties are held and the construction of the 2010 Constitution. At a case management hearing on 24 November 2025, Master Kaye refused the defendants' application for the claim to continue under Part 7 and defined the issues for this final hearing.