Motion for Writ in Spanish Pentecostal Church Of God Of Patchogue By Its Board Of Trustees, Also Known As Board Of Directors v. Javier Feliciano| Trellis.Law

On April 04, 2023 a Motion-Secondary was filed involving a dispute between Spanish Pentecostal Church Of God Of Patchogue By Its Board Of Trustees, Also Known As Board Of Directors, and Javier Feliciano, for Commercial - Other (Religious Corporation) in the District Court of Suffolk County.

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INDEX NO. 608615/2023
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SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
COUNTY OF SUFFOLK
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SPANISH PENTECOSTAL CHURCH OF GOD Index No.: 608615/2023
OF PATCHOGUE, by its Board of Trustees,
also known as Board of Directors,

Plaintiff, AFFIDAVIT OF
JAVIER
FELICIANO
-against-

JAVIER FELICIANO,

Defendant. Nolan, J.S.C.
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STATE OF NEW YORK.
)SS.:
COUNTY OF SUFFOLK )
Javier Feliciano, being duly sworn, deposes and says:

1 For more than three decades I have served as the Pastor of the Plaintiff Spanish

Pentecostal Church of God of Patchogue (“SPCGP” or “the Church”). Iam over the age of 18 and

am fully familiar with the facts and circumstances described herein, and make this Affidavit based

upon my personal knowledge.

2 Isubmit this Affidavit in support of my motion:

To renew and/or re-argue this Court’s January 30, 2024, Order imposing a preliminary

injunction [ECF 41];

To Stay the Court’s January 30" Order pending determination of the instant motion;

For an order vacating the injunction entered by this Court in its January 30, 2024 order;

for a preliminary injunction precluding Plaintiff from holding itself out as the duly elected

Board of Spanish Pentecostal Church Of God Of Patchogue (the “Church”), precluding

Plaintiff from interfering with the defendant’s ministry as Pastor, and precluding Plaintiff

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from interfering with the management and operation of the Church (including barring

Plaintiff from accessing the Church’s bank account); and

Pursuant to CPLR 2004, an extension of the deadline to complete party depositions until

60 days after the Court issues a decision on this application.

3 Further, in my capacity as Pastor, as to those records authenticated by my affidavit

which are not based on my personal knowledge, I attest as follows: I served as the primary keeper

of the records of the Church. In connection with my role as Pastor, I am fully familiar with the

business records of the Church. Each of the records or copies produced herewith are taken from

the business records of the Church.

4 To the best of my knowledge and after reasonable inquiry, the records or copies

produced herewith were made in the regular course of business of the Church at the time of the

act, transaction, occurrence, or event recorded therein, or within a reasonable time thereafter. It is

the regular course of business for the Spanish Pentecostal Church of God of Patchogue to make

and maintain such records. To the best of my knowledge and after reasonable inquiry, the records

or copies produced herewith are accurate versions of the documents described.

5 Moreover, in my capacity as Pastor and President of the Church, I can certify the

authenticity of the documents annexed to this Affidavit as true, accurate and correct copies of

which follow.

I Relevant Facts Forming Basis of That Part Of My Motion Which Is To Renew

6. When I was first sued by Plaintiff, I did not believe that I needed counsel to protect

my rights in this matter, because I did not do anything wrong warranting an injunction being filed

against me, and did not realize, at the time, that my lack of mastery of the English language

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(Spanish is my primary language) would negatively impact upon my understanding of my rights

in this matter.

7. Further, at this Court’s January 4, 2024, hearing, I did not request, but probably

should have requested, an interpreter, as, among other things, I understood this Court to say that

because this was not a criminal matter, that I did not need an attorney. See Exhibit “A” [Certified

Copy of Transcript - 1-04-24 Hearing], pp. 24-25. This caused me some confusion because the

Court, later on during the hearing encouraged me to get an attorney.

8 After the hearing, I began searching for counsel and after meeting with and

retaining my current counsel, Guadagnoli & Associates, P.C., I realized two things:

That I misunderstood the case and claims against me, and that there were several critical

and relevant documents and facts that were not before the Court (because I did not

realize their importance) or able to be considered by the Court when it ordered an

injunction; and

That I had inadvertently made a factual error in my answer [ECF 24] and affidavit [ECF

25] including an incorrect critical factual assertion that ultimately harmed my defense,

which I correct in this affidavit, and which, combined with the other facts,

unequivocally show that an injunction should not have been entered against me in this

action.

9 In short, as this action is still in its infancy, and no discovery or depositions have

taken place, and the parties are nowhere near a trial on the merits, there is absolutely no prejudice

to Plaintiff posed by this Court considering or granting my motion for renewal and re-argument

on Plaintiff's Order to Show Cause.

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10. In light of the above, I respectfully request that this Court grant my motion, based

on the following facts and legal arguments, some of which were inadvertently left out of my initial

papers or not fully emphasized or highlighted, and based on the following relevant and additional

undisputed facts.

Il. Relevant Historical Facts Concerning SPCGP

11. My involvement with the Church commenced in 1975 to the present day. I was a

member of the Church, and then became treasurer, and, in 1996, I was duly and unanimously

elected by the voting members of the Church as the Pastor of the Church and have served in that

capacity ever since.

12. I was the Pastor of the Church for 9 years before I ever received recognition from

the Assembly of God as a credentialed minister of Assemblies of God. See Exhibit E, [True and

correct copy of the June 16, 2005 Assemblies of God credential letter].

13. The Church was incorporated on February 29, 1960, pursuant to Article 10 of New

York’s Religious Corporation Law (“RCL”). See Exhibit B [true and correct copy of the

Certificate of Incorporation (“COI”) of the Church].

14. The Church acquired the Church’s properties in 1961 and 1999 respectively, in fee

simple. See Ex. C [True and Correct Copies of Deeds to Church’s Properties]. The Church,

not Assemblies of God, owns the property outright in fee simple. [The deeds set forth on their face

the owners of the properties as “Spanish Pentecostal Church of God of Patchogue”].

15. This fact which was not previously before the Court is critically relevant because

only the Church, and not Assemblies of God, owns and has control of the Church’s property.

Assemblies of God has no ownership and no control whatsoever over any of the Church’s property

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and holdings, nor is the Assemblies of God a parent corporation of, or have any legal or structural

affiliation with, the Church.

16. In 1970, the Church began a loose affiliation with Assemblies of God. See ECF 33.

Specifically, the relationship between the Church and Assemblies of God was limited only to

granting the Church the “right of representation” in Assemblies of God “District and General

Council meetings”. See ECF 33 [True and Correct Copy of May 19, 1970 letter from General

Council of the Assemblies of God to the Church].

17. By the plain language of this affiliation letter, there were no rights conferred by the

Church on the Assembly of God over the Church, its properties, its management, its Pastor, or its

affairs. See id. Thus, it is a matter of indisputable fact that this conferred no rights whatsoever to

Assemblies of God.

18. Further, as will be demonstrated exhaustively below, neither the Church’s By-Laws

nor the Church’s COI confer any substantive rights on the Assemblies of God over the Church.

Il. Relevant Facts as to The Current Dispute

A. The Plaintiff's Purported Board Is Not a Validly Constituted Board of the
Church and Each and Every Action Taken By Them —- Including Commencing
This Lawsuit -- Is legal and Of No Force and Effect.

19. Pursuant to Paragraph 6 of the COI, the first annual election of the Trustees was

held on January 1, 1961, and was to be held on January | of each successive year thereafter. See

Ex. B. Pursuant to both the COI and the Church’s By-Laws [True and Correct Copy at ECF 13,

at Article VI (1)], the Trustee’s term once elected lasts only one year.

20. Pursuant to “Article V — Voting” of the By-laws [ECF 13] (board of directors, i.e.,

trustees), in order to constitute a valid member of the Board of Trustees, such Trustee must be

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elected by two-thirds of the vote of a quorum (majority) of all Church members entitled to vote.

See ECF 13, at Article V, Section 3 Directors:

[‘All elections for directors of the Board of Directors shall be
decided by two thirds of the votes submitted’]

and SECTION 5. QUORUM.

[Except as otherwise required by law, by the Certificate of
Incorporation or by these By-Laws, the presence, in person of a
majority of the members of the corporation entitled to vote thereat
shall constitute a quorum at a meeting for the transaction of any
business’].

21. Likewise, Officers of the Church must also, by the explicit language of the By-

Laws, be elected annually as well, except for the President who is the Pastor of the church and

serves as President as long as he is Pastor of the Church. The By-law set forth explicitly in

Article VII “Officers”, Section (1) that:

The officers of the corporation shall consist of a president who shall be the
elected Pastor of the church who shall be the President of the Board of
Directors by virtue of his office as Pastor.
* * * *
The officers shall be elected at the annual meeting of the corporation, with the
xception of the President of the Board who shall hold office as President as
long as he or she is Pastor of the Church.

ECF 13, at Article VII , Section (1) [page 8 of pdf] [Emphasis added]

22. Based on the above, it is a matter of indisputable fact that there is only one officer

and board member that does not have to be reelected once elected and serves continuously, and

that is the undersigned Pastor and President of the Church.

23. Further, pursuant to the explicit language of By-laws “Article IV. Membership,

Section 8 “Voting Members”, the following members of the Church are afforded the right to vote.

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[SECTION 8. VOTING MEMBERS, Shall be those persons who have met the

qualification of baptism in water by immersion, eighteen (18) years of age and older

and have received a certificate duly signed of membership. They shall have the

privilege of voice and vote in all business meetings of this church]

ECF 13 Article IV. Membership, Section 8 “Voting Members”. Likewise, “Article IV.

Membership, Section 5. Certificates of Membership” sets forth that:

SECTION 5. CERTIFICATES OF MEMBERSHIP. Every member of the

corporation shall be entitled to have an annual renewable certificate of membership.

signed by or in the name of the corporation by, the president and secretary.

ECF 13, at Article IV. Membership, Section 5 [emphasis added].

24. Thus, to be entitled to vote, the Member must be 18 years or older and have

received a certificate of membership in accordance with this By-law. Annexed hereto as Exhibit

D [List of Voting Members] is a true and correct copy of the official list of the members of Church

entitled to vote under the By-Laws.

25. In this context and framework outlined above, I highlight the following relevant

(and indisputable) facts.

26. During my tenure as Pastor, regular annual elections for Trustees and Officers were

held until twelve years ago. Since then, there has not been a single election for any Officer, or

Trustee to the Board of Trustees (Directors) of the Church.

27. Instead, after the last election held twelve years ago, due to growing Church

obligations that took up more and more of my time, I simply began appointing board members at

my discretion and removing them accordingly where necessary, and neither the Church’s

congregation, nor the Trustees ever objected to or complained about my doing so (and the Church

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ran smoothly). That process changed with this action, as I removed the prior board (Plaintiffs) that

Thad appointed at my sole discretion.

28. In this regard, not one of these purported Plaintiff board members (to the extent

they assert an election is required) were elected to the current term and accordingly this purported.

board does not constitute a validly formed board and, as such, they have absolutely no power

whatsoever to assert board powers on behalf of the Church.

29. Moreover, these purported Plaintiff board members never complained that an

election was required when I appointed them in the first instance, but now complain that an election

is required to remove them -- even though they were never duly elected to the Board in the first

instance. They seek to impermissibly use the By-Laws and rules as both a shield and a sword.

30. I note that the Plaintiff's affiants, Ilia Torres [ECF 5 - Affidavit] and Maria Saez

[ECF 19- Amended Affidavit] submitted false and fraudulent affidavits to this Court asserting that

they are current validly elected board members vested with power to act on the Church’s behalf.

This is demonstrably false.

31. In fact, only two of the purported Plaintiff board members were ever elected to the

Board in the first instance. Those are Ilia Torres and Wilfredo Soto, both elected to one-year terms

in 2012. They were, however, never reelected once their respective initial one-year terms expired,

but, rather, were simply appointed by me to the Board thereafter. As such, they are also without

any power to act, as they are not currently validly elected Trustees and have not been since the last

election twelve years ago.

32. Further the additional purported Plaintiff board members [See ECF 5 (Torres Aff),

at par. 4] - Jorge Flores, Luis Velazquez, Madelyn Cracchiolo, Maria Saez, and Secundo Macas

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were never elected by the Members of the Church to their positions, and thus are not valid members

of the board of trustees.' See ECF 13, at Article VI — Directors, Section 1. Number and Term:

[The directors shall be elected at the annual meeting of members and each director

shall be elected to serve for a period of one year...]

See ECF 13, at Article VI — Directors, Section 1. Number and Term.

33. Based on the above, because each of the above persons are either not currently

validly elected board members or were never elected to the board pursuant to the COI and the

explicit requirements of the By-laws, the purported board of Plaintiff is not a validly constituted

board, and every action it has taken is illegal and without force or effect. In short, Plaintiffs

purported board is not entitled to conduct the Church’s affairs or even commence, as a board, this

legal action on behalf
of the Church.

34, Based on the above facts, which cannot be disputed, it is abundantly clear that this

Court based its decision granting an injunction on demonstrably false factual assertions by

Plaintiff's affiants and Plaintiff's counsel. Such an injunction should never have been entered

against me and I should never have been prohibited from (1) being on the Church’s property, (2)

accessing the Church’s bank accounts, or (3) holding myself out as Pastor of the Church. I

respectfully request that this Court vacate the injunction against and me provide the relief

requested in this motion.

1In my Answer and Initial Affidavit in Opposition [ECF 24 and 25 respectively, at paragraph 5] I mistakenly
asserted that Maria Saez was elected in 2022 by the Trustees and confirmed by the members of the Church
as Treasurer. I got confused and equated the word elected with appointed, and the word confirmed with
appointed. This was an incorrect factual assertion, which I correct with this affidavit. Ms. Saez has never
been elected to the Board, or as Treasurer, at any time, by the Trustees or the Church membership. [simply
appointed her to the position. Any assertion by her to the contrary is a deliberately false statement made
by her to this Court.

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B. Pursuant to the Explicit Requirements of the By-Laws, I_ have Never Been
Removed As Pastor of the Church, and Unequivocally Remain Pastor of the
Church

35. The By-Laws [ECF 13] explicitly sets forth that as Pastor of the Church, I serve as

Pastor continuously, unless I resign or I am removed pursuant to the strict and explicit provisions

of the By-Laws. The By-Laws, in Article VI, Section 6, set forth only two grounds for which I can

be removed, and the specific provisions for removal:

SECTION 6. REASONS FOR THE REMOVAL OF PASTOR. With regard
to the removal of the Pastor of the church the following requirements for
removal must be met:

a) MORAL INFRACTION. As determined by a board of inquiry composed
of the members of the Board of the Directors of the Church and the
representative of the Assemblies of God district to which the church
belongs.

b) ABSENCE. Absence of more than one year in which the Pastor could not
preform his ministerial duties such as preaching, teaching, church services
or directing the Board of Directors of illness or incapacitation.

c) VOTING FOR REMOVAL. All removal elections must be carried out
and directed by the official representative of the Assemblies of God district
to which the church belongs and must be carried by a two thirds 2/3 majority
of the voting members of the church.

ECF 13, at Article VI, Section 6. [Emphasis Added].

36. First, there was absolutely no board of inquiry by the Board of Directors of the

Church because each purported director, other than me, was not a validly elected member of the

Board, and thus could not lawfully convene a Board of Inquiry unless I convened it, which never

occurred. Second, and more importantly, there was never notice of a vote, or a vote conducted, of

any kind, by an official representative of the Assemblies of God district, and nor was there a vote

by 2/3rds of all the voting members of the Church voting to remove me. In fact, the vast majority

of the Members are supportive of me as Pastor and would not vote to remove me.

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37. In short, and based on the above, because the By-Laws -- which specifically outline

the procedure for removing me -- were not even arguably followed (or even an attempt made to

follow them), I remain the Pastor of the Church and should be immediately restored to same by

this Court (1) vacating the injunction, which improperly removed me and further (2) enjoining

Plaintiff's purported board from interfering in any fashion with the operations of the Church or

with my pastoral rights and obligations.

38. Both the temporary restraining order, and the injunction barring me from the

Church and my pastoral obligations, have caused egregious, irreparable harm to me and my

congregation as follows:

a. Preliminarily, the loss of the opportunity to minister to my congregation is an

irreparable harm;

I have had to spend significant sums of money seeking to rent space to hold worship

and mass services with my congregation, and on accounting fees (in excess of $28,000)

to respond to this litigation;

Cc Ihave had to spend significant sums of money retaining attorneys to fight this frivolous

action, which will likely far exceed $50,000.00 as this litigation continues];

Plaintiff's false board has damaged my reputation, in an amount yet to be determined

by falsely asserting that I am guilty of financial impropriety which is false as a matter

of indisputable fact;

The Plaintiffs purported board who brought this action physically forced me out of the

Church when they had absolutely no power to do so;

They called the police on me when they had no right to do so; and

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g. They denied me access to the Church’s bank account, and I have not been paid my

salary ($30,000 to date); and

h. They locked me out of my congregation for almost one year.

39. In short, the harm to me and my congregation has been nothing short of

catastrophic.

C. The Assemblies of God Has No Power Whatsoever to Interfere In The Orderly
Administration of the Church, My Administration as Pastor of the Church
and/or to Remove Me From My Position as Pastor, and/or to Recognize Anyone
Else as Pastor or Anyone Else As a Member of the Board

40. In addition to the above, the By-Laws make explicitly clear that the Assemblies of

God, contrary to the false statements and evidence-free assertions made by Plaintiff's counsel at

this Court’s January 4, 2024 hearing, have absolutely no power to remove me as Pastor, and their

limited role, if any, in accordance with the By-Laws, is limited to being permitted to have one

representative from the Assemblies of God participate in a board of inquiry with members of the

Church’s board of directors, in connection with a potential moral infraction by the Pastor, and

simply “carrying out” and “directing” a removal vote, in connection with the membership vote for

removal of the Pastor, should such inquiry recommend such a vote be taken.

41. Nor, under the By-Laws, does Assemblies of God have the power to recognize any

other pastor other than me, or recognize any board of the Church other than one that is validly

constituted under the By-laws (elected annually by 2/3 of the majority of voting members of the

Church). Indeed, the only other substantive time the Assemblies of God is even mentioned in the

By-Laws, other than as set forth in the preceding paragraph, is where a representative of the

Assemblies of God is permitted to participate in a board of inquiry for the resolution of church

divisions, as further described and set forth in Article [X., Section 3, of the By-Laws.

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42. As evidenced above, it is an undisputed fact that I was the Pastor of the Church for

9 years prior to the Assemblies of God credentialing me. Thus, the statements by Plaintiffs

counsel [Ex A, at p. 30: LL. 11-14] that I was sent to the Church by Assemblies of God, and or

that the Assemblies of God controls the Church [Ex A, at p. 6: LL 5-18] are unequivocally and

knowingly false statements made to the Court by Plaintiffs counsel.

43. Additionally, Assemblies of God, pursuant to explicit language of the By-Laws,

has no power whatsoever to remove me as Pastor. As set forth in the above prior section, only a

vote by 2/3 of all of the voting members ofthe Church can accomplish my removal as Pastor.

44. Thus, all of the letters from Assemblies of God included by Plaintiff (ECF Nos. 8,

9, 11, and 14) including ECF 14 (letter dismissing me as Pastor) is void, and of no legal effect. In

short, Assemblies of God has maliciously and tortiously interfered with our Church because I

expressed our intention to disaffiliate from Assemblies of God, which is our unequivocal right to

do, if we as a Church want to do that. I further suspect that Assemblies of God’s interference with

the orderly running of the Church has to do with it wanting control over properties they do not

wn and to which they have no right to control, pursuant to the deeds, the Church’s incorporating

documents, the By-Laws, or by operation of any other law.

D. Asa Matter of Indisputable Fact, There Was No Financial Impropriety and The
Fraudulent_Audit Summary Submitted by Plaintiff_is Both Inadmissible
Hearsay and Is Demonstrably False.

45. Plaintiff further falsely asserts that I engaged in financial impropriety and submitted

ECF 10, which was purportedly a summary of an audit that was conducted by McKenzie Forensic

Auditors, Inc., as proofof same.

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46. First, the purported audit summary letter, itself, contains so many grammatical and

typographical mistakes, it is clear that this document was not written by an actual professional

auditor or a person who has professional grasp over the English language.

47. Second, the audit summary letter is not authenticated by the purported auditor, by

affidavit under oath, and is simply inadmissible hearsay, and moreover contains no underlying

evidence to support its assertions.

48. Third, and most importantly, the purported audit summary is utterly wrong and

asserts a false conclusion. Specifically, this document asserts a capital expenditure of $65,754 and

asserts that I did not provide any explanation for the expense. This is an utterly false statement,

because the purported $65,754.00 was never spent on anything. In 2006/2007 I opened two bank

certificate of deposit accounts in the Church’s name at Astoria Bank [ECF Nos. 27 and 28], which

was fully authorized by the Board [ECF no. 32], and deposited the Church’s money into those

accounts, so that the Church could earn a higher rate of interest than by just keeping the money in

a checking account. The combined totals of both of these accounts when I closed the accounts in

2022 was $65,626.85.

49. In short, when I closed these Astoria accounts in 2022, I simply transferred the

money to the Church’s checking account in Bank of America. On April 25, 2022, there is a deposit

of $65,626.85 into that account [ECF 31]. As of the date of the TRO [April 5, 2023] which is the

day I lost access to the bank account due to the TRO, the money was in the account untouched and

unspent. Thus, it is a matter of indisputable fact, that the money was never spent on anything,

whatsoever, and was simply transferred from one Church account to the other Church account.

50. Plaintiff's further assertion (unsupported by anything even remotely resembling

evidence) that our bank account was negative for six years is utterly false, and moreover, the

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Plaintiff submitted no admissible evidence whatsoever showing a negative balance in any of the

Church’s accounts, or even an affidavit from their purported auditor outlining the evidence they

reviewed to come up with this false conclusion, such as a bank statement showing a negative

balance.

Sl. In short, Plaintiff’s assertions are demonstrably false, not supported by any

admissible evidence, and should never have been considered by this Court, as a basis for any

purported relief.

E. The Dissenting Faction of The Church Led by The Invalid Board of Trustees
Purporting to Act on Behalf of Plaintiff Was Properly Dismissed From the
Church Under The By-Laws

52. The By-laws unequivocally set forth in Article IX Prohibition of Dissolution,

SECTION 3. DIVISIONS, that if there is a division within the church:

Those _ parties who cause the division against the duly elected
Pastor or the elected Board of Directors shall not have any rights
to any property or holdings of said church even they may be in
majority, until a Board of Inquiry is formed to hear the causes.
The Board of Inquiry shall consist of the duly elected members of the
Board of Directors and the representative name by the governing
Assemblies of God District, in which said church is affiliated. The
Board of Inquiry shall make the final determination and the division
faction shall leave the church with out any of the property or holdings
of the church.

ECF 13, at Article IX “Prohibition of Dissolution”, SECTION 3. “DIVISIONS” [emphasis added].

53. The above By-Laws unequivocally provide that anyone who causes division against

the duly elected Pastor shall be removed from the Church’s property and holdings.

54. The language requires that a Board of Inquiry ultimately determines the case, made

up of duly elected members of the Board, which, in this case, was only me, because none of the

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other purported board members was validly elected and thus had no power to comprise a part of

this Board of Inquiry.

55. Further, I did not include the Assemblies of God because of their malicious

interference in the Church’s affairs, because the Church was disaffiliating from them, and because

they had no authority concerning our practice and procedure regarding our Church affairs.

56. Thereafter, we duly called a meeting of the other members of the Church (a majority

of the Members entitled to vote) who were not in the division faction, held a vote on January 15,

2023, and we unanimously elected a new board, and voted to amend the certificate of incorporation

and to disaffiliate from the Assemblies of God. See ECF Nos. 27 and 35.

F. Itis Beyond Any Reasonable Dispute That the Only Persons That Have Suffered
Irreparable Harm Are Me, My Congregation and My Church

57. It is beyond dispute that I have been unlawfully prevented from acting as Pastor to

my Church, now going on for a year, based on the false and fraudulent assertions of persons who

are unauthorized to act as the Board of this Church because they were never duly elected as

Trustees. This has caused me irreparable harm as follows:

a. Preliminarily, the loss of the opportunity to minister to my congregation is an

irreparable harm;

I have had to spend significant sums of money to rent space to hold worship and

mass services with my congregation, and on accounting fees (in excess of $28,000)

to respond to this litigation;

I have had to spend significant sums of money retaining attorneys to fight this

frivolous action, which will likely far exceed $50,000.00 as this litigation

continues];

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Plaintiffs false board has damaged my reputation, in an amount yet to be

determined by falsely asserting that I am guilty of financial impropriety which is

false as a matter of indisputable fact;

The Plaintiffs purported board who brought this action physically forced me out

of the Church when they had absolutely no power to do so;

They denied me access to the Church’s bank account, and I have not been paid my

salary ($30,000 to date); and

They called the police on me when they had no right to do so; and

They locked me out of my congregation for almost one year.

58. In short, the harm to me and my congregation has been nothing short of

catastrophic. I am still the Pastor and President of the Church equipped with all of the powers,

privileges and rights of these positions afforded under the law and the By-Laws. In contrast, the

Plaintiff's purported board is invalid, and they are without power to hold themselves out as the

board, to remove me, or manage the affairs of the Church in any manner, and should be barred

from the Church’s property and holdings for all of the reasons set forth in exhaustive detail in this

Affidavit.

59. Alternatively, there is no harm whatsoever to the Plaintiff and its purported board

if this Court vacates the injunction against me as the members of Plaintiff who brought this action

purporting to be Trustees were never validly elected in the first instance, and thus do not have the

power or authority to act as the board of the Church, or interfere with my Pastoral obligations,

privileges and rights.

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NYSCEF DOC. NO. 47 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/06/2024

60. Based on the above, and all of the evidence presented herein, the equities all militate

in favor of (1) this injunction being vacated and me being restored as Pastor of the Church, and (2)

the Plaintiffs purported board being enjoined from interfering in any manner with my ministry,

my pastoral rights and obligations, or the management and operation of this Church, or from

holding themselves out as a valid and duly elected board until this action is litigated and

adjudicated.

61. Wherefore based on the above, the undersigned respectfully request that my motion

be granted in its entirety.

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Dated: Patchogue, New York
March 6, 2024

Kolo
Javier Feliciano

Sworn to before me this
day of March 2024

JILL C. BURKE
Notary Public, State of New York
No. 01BU6151361
Qualified in Suffolk County
Commission Expires August 9, 2026

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George Nolan Track Judge’s New Case

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Document Filed Date

March 06, 2024

Case Filing Date

April 04, 2023

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Motion-Secondary: Spanish Pentecostal Church Of God Of Patchogue By Its Board Of Trustees, Also Known As Board Of Directors v. Javier Feliciano

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