South African Christian churches have been widely recognised as major civil institutions that play a role in the provision of social services to complement the state effort. But the concern is there has been an increase in the number of disputes involving leadership succession in these churches that have had to be adjudicated by the civil courts in the last decade. These disputes impact on the governance, growth, reputation and sustainability of churches. The South African Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL Rights Commission) identifies weak or lack of effective succession planning in the governing policies of churches as the major cause of these disputes. Against this backdrop, this article analyses some specific cases to explore how church policies influence succession disputes in South African churches. It further explores how the courts engage and interpret the governance policies of churches in the resolution of these disputes. The article reveals that the findings of the CRL Rights Commission are justified. It observes that, among other issues, some churches lack effective and workable succession planning in their governing policies. The policies on leadership succession of these churches are poorly drafted, thereby creating significant lacunae and vacuums leading to conflicts. The article concludes by identifying some lessons that churches can learn from the judicial approach in the resolution of disputes in order to enhance the quality of church policies, thereby reducing their exposure to succession disputes.

中文翻译：

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涉及南非教会继承纠纷的法律问题：一些教训

南非基督教会被广泛认为是主要的民间机构，在提供社会服务以补充国家努力方面发挥着作用。但令人担忧的是，在过去十年中，这些教会中涉及领导继任的纠纷数量有所增加，这些纠纷必须由民事法庭裁决。这些争议影响着教会的治理、成长、声誉和可持续性。南非促进和保护文化、宗教和语言社区权利委员会（CRL 权利委员会）将教会管理政策中薄弱或缺乏有效的继任计划确定为这些争端的主要原因。在这样的背景下，本文分析了一些具体案例，探讨教会政策如何影响南非教会的继承纠纷。它进一步探讨了法院在解决这些纠纷时如何参与和解释教会的治理政策。文章表明，CRL 权利委员会的调查结果是合理的。它观察到，除其他问题外，一些教会在其治理政策中缺乏有效和可行的继任计划。这些教会的领导继任政策起草不力，从而造成重大漏洞和真空，从而导致冲突。文章最后指出了教会在解决争端方面可以从司法方法中吸取的一些经验教训，以提高教会政策的质量，从而减少他们在继承纠纷中的风险。