§ 126.002.Appointment of Receiver

The gateway to the receivership, with two conditions and one preliminary step.

The judge of a district court or another court of jurisdiction shall on application appoint a receiver for any religious congregation that formerly maintained regular forms of work and worship in a given community at regular intervals and has ceased to function as a religious congregation in those or similar capacities for at least one year.

Both conditions describe the same congregation at two points in time: one that was active, and has since stopped.

"At regular intervals" and "in a given community" do real work in the first condition. The chapter is aimed at an established local body with a place and a schedule, not at an occasional gathering.

The one-year period in the second is what separates dormancy from disbandment. A congregation between ministers, or one that paused, is not within the chapter until a year has passed.

"Shall on application" leaves the court no discretion once the conditions are shown, which is unusual for a receivership — ordinarily an extraordinary remedy a court may decline.

The judge shall hear and determine the application in term or in vacation. Vacation is the period between court terms, so the application need not wait for a term to open.

Before appointing, the judge shall apply to the secretary of state for a certified copy of the record of trustees the chapter requires.

That step exists to find whoever still holds authority. A congregation that stopped meeting may still have trustees of record, and the court checks the register before putting a stranger in charge of the property.