*158.* _Term, Successors, Contest._—Where there is no term of office fixed, the presumption is that an officer continues as such until proof to the contrary is established,(282) or until his successor shall have been elected and shall have qualified.(283) Also, the officers elected for a certain term can not be amoved by electing new officers before the end of the term.(284) When officers or committees have been elected “for the ensuing year,” they shall hold office until superseded by their duly elected successors. Where two sets of officers were elected at a meeting of a religious corporation and the set that was elected according to the charter continued in office by appointment thereafter, it was too late for the irregularly elected officers to make a contest for the offices after the term for which they had been elected had expired.(285) *159.* _By-Laws, Preside._—At an election of trustees under by-laws that provide that certain officers shall preside, if there are no such officers members may be selected to preside in their places.(286) *160.* _Note, Overdraft, Interest._—The president and secretary of a church corporation have no authority to make a promissory note unless authorized by the board of trustees.(287) Neither has the treasurer authority to make an overdraft on a bank with the action of the trustees.(288) The trustees of a parish, however, may make a note binding the congregation for the payment of the money used in building a church.(289) But when the trustees have an interest in the transaction, adverse to the congregation, they are disqualified from acting.(290) When trustees had claims against the congregation which they included with other claims that third parties had against the church, they could not put them in a judgment note so as to get a lien upon the church property. When officers do not bind the congregation, they usually bind themselves.(291) The trustees of an unincorporated church can not bind it beyond the expressed powers granted by the members.(292) *161.* _Board, Control._—When the laws of the organization give control of matters to the board of trustees, the majority of the members of the church can not control the action of the trustees contrary to the usages and regulations of the church.(293) *162.* _Treasurer, Accepting a Draft._—A parish treasurer has no authority under any condition to bind the corporation by accepting a draft in favor of a third person. A treasurer elected for the purpose of receiving and investing funds in his individual name, holds such funds as trustee for the church and is subject as such trustee to a court of equity. Persons claiming to be trustees of a church but never getting possession of their offices or the property of the church, can not maintain an action against other persons who are in possession and have been duly elected.(294)