The trustee or trustees of any church, religious sect, society or denomination, or of any individual church, parish, congregation or branch, within this state, shall have power to receive donations, gifts and bequests of personal property, and, subject to the limitations of section eight of this article, to take by devise, conveyance or dedication or to purchase and to hold, real property, in trust for such church, religious sect, society or deneomination, or for any individual church, parish, congregation or branch; and in their own name or names to sue or be sued in all proper actions and suits, for or on account of the rreal or personal property so held or claimed, and for and on account of any matters relating thereto: Provided, That, in the absence of gross negligence, no trustee shall be personally liable for any tort arising from or growing out of the ownership of property as a trustee and no such action or suit shall abate because of the death, removal or retsignation of any trustee, or the appointment of another trustee, but may be proceeded with in the name of the trustee or trustees by or against whom it was instituted, or in the name of the succeeding trustee or trustees. The trustee or trustees shall be accountable to that church, religious sect, society, or denomination, or to that individual church, parish, congregation or branch, for which he or they hold in trust, for the use and management of such property, and shall surrender it to any person or persons authorized to demand it.
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