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STATE OF MICHIGAN COURT OF APPEALS

ROBERT MARTIN HANNEWALD, Plaintiff-Appellant, v SCOTT A. SCHWERTFEGER, RONALD HOFFMAN, and ST. JACOB EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, Defendants-Appellees.

UNPUBLISHED March 1, 2011

No. 295589 Jackson Circuit Court LC No. 09-002654-CZ

Before: HOEKSTRA, P.J., and FITZGERALD and BECKERING, JJ. PER CURIAM. Plaintiff Robert Hannewald appeals as of right from the December 2, 2009 order granting summary disposition in favor of defendants Scott Schwertfeger, Ronald Hoffman and St. Jacob Evangelical Lutheran Church. We affirm. This action arises out of comments made by defendant Schwertfeger during the course of a dispute over the appropriate use of a bequest made by plaintiff's uncle, Lawrence Hannewald, to St. Jacob for certain purposes. Plaintiff and his uncle were long-standing members of the St. Jacob congregation.1 Upon his death, plaintiff's uncle bequeathed to the church approximately $70,000 to be used for certain specified purposes, including "restoration" of the sanctuary.2 Schwertfeger serves as the church's pastor and Hoffman serves as its president. As administrator of his uncle's estate, plaintiff took issue with the manner in which defendants proposed to use the bequeathed funds, asserting that the planned construction constituted "renovation" and not "restoration," and so, was improper under the terms of the bequest. Plaintiff alleges that he "informally advised Pastor Schwertfeger and other members of the Church that [the proposed

Plaintiff alleges that his ancestors were founding members of the church, which was organized in the early 1800s. Plaintiff notes that this amount had grown to approximately $75,000 by the time the church began making plans for its use.
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use] was not in accordance with [his uncle's] desires." Plaintiff further alleges that, thereafter, Schwertfeger made disparaging comments directed toward him during a prayer3 to open a congregational meeting at which more than 25 church members were present to discuss use of the bequest. More specifically, plaintiff asserts that Pastor Schwertfeger made the following "hurtful, disparaging, and offensive" comments: The point of this portion of Scripture is that the dignity and the glory of the Lord were at stake. God showed that his dignity was not something to be tampered with. This is what the dignity of the Lord means to God. What is before us today has nothing to do with God's glory. This has nothing to do with the dignity of the Lord. That is neither here nor there. The dignity of the Lord is not at stake in this instance. But we do have the will of the congregation on one side and the will of one man on the other side. To me this is a matter of dignity

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Michigan Law