and a judgment has been, or may be, recovered against such incorporation, the said real estate, together with such edifice and improvements thereon, shall, by a civil action for that purpose, be subjected to the payment of such judgment and costs. 80 0. L. 51.

(§ 3776-1.) Sec. 1. Transfer of certain church property

Any ecclesiastical society incorporated under the laws of this state connected with a church of Christ in this state, may, by a three-fourths vote of its adult members present and voting at a meeting warned and held for that purpose, assign, transfer and convey to the church with which it is connected, and which is incorporated under the laws of this state, all the property and estate, real and personal, and trust funds of said society to be held by said corporation under the trusts and for the same uses upon which the same had heretofore been held by such society, and the society, committee or trustees are fully authorized to make, pursuant to such vote, any and all conveyances necessary to complete such assignment and transfer; but, before the same shall be effectual a certificate of the fact of such assignment and transfer shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state, and in the office of the clerk of the county in which the property is located. 88 O. L. 298.

$3777. Consolidation of religious corporations

When two or more religious societies, churches, or associations, recognizing the same ecclesiastical jurisdiction, form of faith, government, order, and discipline, and incorporated by or under any law of this state, desire to be consolidated or united as a single corporation, the elders, trustees, deacons, directors, or other known and legal representatives of such societies, churches, or associations, may enter into an agreement for such union or consolidation, and prescribe the terms and conditions thereof, the corporate name of such united society, church, or association, the time and place for the first meeting of the new corporation, the number of members of each separate branch or organization who shall be chosen as directors, trustees, elders or other officers for the new corporation, to succeed to the rights, trusts, duties and obligations of those officers who, in the separate organizations, held in trust the estate, real and personal, of such separate

churches, societies, or associations, with such other estates as they may deem necessary to complete the new corporation; but an agreement so made shall not be valid until it has been submitted to a separate meeting of the members of each organization, of which due and full notice has been given, according to the form and usage for calling church, congregation, or society meetings, and ratified by a two-thirds vote of all present at such meeting, in person or by proxy, and entitled to vote according to the laws, regulations, or usages of such church, society, or corporation. 67 v. 30, § 1.

§ 3778. Record of proceedings to be certified, etc.

When the agreement has been ratified by each church, society, or association, which is a party to the proposed united organization, the clerk or secretary of each meeting shall certify the record of the proceedings thereof, and deliver the same to the clerk or secretary of the first meeting of the united churches, societies, or organizations, as hereinbefore provided, and as specified in the terms of agreement. 67 v. 30, § 2.

$3779. Articles of incorporation, and filing of same

If, at the first meeting of the united corporations, the proceedings and acts of the several churches, societies, and parties thereto are submitted to and approved by the meeting, and a board of trustees, directors, or other officers are chosen in accordance with the terms of agreement, the clerk or secretary of the meeting shall certify such approved agreement or terms of union, and file the same in the office of the secretary of state, whereupon the several churches, societies, or associations, parties thereto, shall be deemed and taken to be one corporation, possessing within this state all the rights, privileges, and franchises, and subject to all the restrictions, disabilities, and duties, of such new corporation. 67 v. 30, § 3.

$ 3780. Property passes to new corporation

The new corporation. with its officers and chosen representatives, shall succeed to, and be invested with, all and singular, the right, title, and interest in and to every species of property, real, personal, or mixed, and all and singular the rights, privileges, and franchises of each of the churches, societies, or associations parties to the agreement, without any other act, conveyance,

or transfer; and such new corporation shall hold and enjoy the same, with all the rights pertaining to such property, franchises, and trusts, and shall be subject to all the debts, liabilities, and obligations, in the same manner and to the same extent as any or either of the churches or societies parties to the new corporation. 67 v. 30, $4.

§ 3781. Transfer of property after union of corporationsWhen any two or more religious societies, denominations, or ecclesiastical corporations in this state hereafter unanimously form a union, or which have heretofore unanimously formed a union, and become united or consolidated under and by virtue of any rules and regulations of such societies, denominations, or corporations, or laws of this state, the trustees, deacons, directors, or other proper officers of such new society, denomination, or corporation may, at the request of a majority of the members of either of such societies, denominations, or corporations, petition the court of common pleas of the proper county, setting forth the fact of such union, and the court may, in its discretion, make an order requiring such officers, at the time of such union, to convey to such new organization the real estate owned and held by the parties to the union, as the court may direct; and if any of such officers refuse or neglect to obey such order, the decree of the court shall serve as such conveyance; but such order shall in no case be inconsistent with the original terms upon which such real estate became vested in or intrusted to the parties to the union ; and in all cases the grantors of such real estate to such parties, or their heirs, shall be made parties to the petition, and such grantors or their heirs who make no defense shall not be subject to costs. 73 V. 225, § I.

§ 3782. Notice of application therefor

Notice of the pendency of such petition shall be given by publication in a newspaper published in the county where the petition. is filed, for four consecutive weeks, setting forth the object and prayer of the petition, and if no newspaper is printed in such county, publication shall be made in the newspaper published nearest to such county. 73 V. 225, § 2.

§3783. Associations for holding donations and bequests

An association incorporated for the purpose of receiving and

holding donations and bequests, and funds arising from other sources, and disbursing the interest and income arising therefrom as in this section provided, shall hold all such principal sums as a permanent fund; and the interest arising from such fund, and the annual income arising from all personal and real property held by such association, shall be applied and distributed annually as follows:

First. To the payment of the necessary expenses of such association.

Second. The balance shall be paid to the board of stewards, or any officer that may be designated by any conference, synod, assembly, or association within the bounds of which the principal office is located at the time of such organization, to be distributed by the board of stewards or such officer annually, to such persons as may be designated by such conference, synod, presbytery, assembly, or association. 71 v. 110, §§ 1, 2, 3, 4.

3784. Endowment fund corporations

When a presbytery, synod, conference, diocesan convention, or other representative body of any religious denomination in this state, or when an assembly, synod, conference, convention, or other general ecclesiastical body of any religious denomination held in the United States, desires to create a board of trustees for any endowment fund or other property of the denomination represented by such body, and, at any regular meeting of such presbytery, synod, conference, diocesan convention, or other representative body of such denomination in this state, or of such assembly, synod, conference, convention, or other general ecclesiastical body in the United States, elects not less than five members of such denomination, one of whom shall be a resident freeholder in this state, to serve as trustees, and makes and files in the office of the secretary of state a statement, giving the names of such trustees, the character of the endowment fund, or other property to be intrusted to their care, and the uses to which it is to be applied, signed by the proper presiding officer and the secretary or clerk of such body, acknowledged before a clerk of a court of record, notary public, or a judicial officer having a seal, and the signing of the same is duly attested by such officer, and the statement thus authenticated is recorded in the office of the secretary of state, the persons named in such statement as trustees shall, thereupon, with their successors in office, become a

body corporate and politic for the purpose in such statement specified; and a copy of such record, duly certified by the secretary of state, shall be evidence of the existence of such corporation. gi (. L. 83.

An election after a schism in a society, on the day fixed by the constitution, and being the only one held that year, but held without proper notice, constitutes those elected de facto trustees. First Presb. Soc. v. First Presb. Soc., 25 Ohio St. 128.

§ 3785. Power of trustees of such corporations

Such trustees, if chosen to take charge of any endowment fund, may invest, manage, and dispose of the same in accordance with the purpose for which it was created, subject to such regulations as the body by which they were elected may from time to time prescribe. 71 V. 118, § 3.

§ 3786. Powers of trustees of religious society-Real Estate liable for labor performed, etc.—

If the trustees are chosen to take charge of and manage any other property that may be owned or in any manner acquired by such religious denomination, they shall have full power to hold, invest, control, and manage the same for the benefit of the denomination within the presbytery, synod, conference, diocese, or other ecclesiastical territorial limits represented by the trus tees, subject to the direction of the proper representative body, of such denomination within such territorial limits as aforesaid; and if a parish or congregation connected with the denomination represented by the trustees become extinct, by reason of the death or dispersion of its members, the trustees may take possession of the church property of such parish, congregation, or society, whether real or personal, and rent, lease, sell, invest, or otherwise dispose of the same, for the benefit of the denomination represented by them, within the territorial limits represented by the body by which they were appointed, and subject to such regulations as such body may prescribe; but all property held by such trustees, and the proceeds thereof, shall be applied to the use and benefit of the proper denomination within the state; provided, however, that the real estate held by or in trust for any religious society or congregation, as a place of worship, or otherwise, shall be liable for and may by civil action be subjected to the payment of any judgment which has been or shall be re