Posted on 02/10/2007 11:58:58 AM PST by XR7
A split within the Episcopal Church has begun and is on its way to court -- something akin to "divorce court," it seems.
More than 100 Episcopal parishes -- and some dioceses -- have either left the denomination or requested alternative oversight within the worldwide Anglican Communion. One of them is St. Stephen's Church in Heathsville, Va.
"We left the Episcopal Church because we could no longer be under the leadership of people who have the attitude that they did about the authority of Scripture," said the Rev. Jeffrey Cerar, rector of St. Stephen's. "Starting several years ago, the Episcopal Church elected and put in place a homosexual bishop and did so in disregard of the Scriptures. It was just a symptom of a much larger problem, which is that the leadership of the Episcopal Church does not regard Scripture as authoritative in the same sense that Christians always have before."
He added: "One of the symptoms of the church now is that the new presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, (Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schorri) is saying that Christ is not the only way to salvation -- just a way."
Cerar's church is one of 11 that recently left the Virginia diocese. Bishop Peter Lee, in return, filed suit against each of the 11, seeking to confiscate the church properties -- and has taken steps to defrock 27 clergy associated with those churches.
Cerar said his congregation is now Anglican -- not Episcopalian -- and there's no going back.
"(Bishop Lee) has taken the position that congregations cannot leave the Episcopal Church -- only individuals can," the Rev. Jeffrey Cerar told CitizenLink, "(but) our congregation, as a congregation, took a vote, and by a three-fourths majority, decided in a duly constituted meeting to sever our ties -- and we also voted to keep our property."
The Rev. Canon David C. Anderson, president and CEO of the American Anglican Council, accused Bishop Lee of "betraying" and "deceiving" the churches by leading them to believe that they could leave without retribution.
Anderson said the Virginia diocese had been in negotiations with the 11 churches until the bishop suddenly broke off the talks and reneged upon a process Lee had established to reach an amicable separation.
"These actions (by the diocese of Virginia) are shameful and un-Christian," he said. "The bishop's refusal to consider further negotiation appears to be intentionally punitive."
Cerar, by the way, is one of the 21 priests who Bishop Lee declared to be "inhibited." Six others had their credentials revoked.
" 'Inhibited' means that the bishop has said that we have 'abandoned' our communion -- or participation -- with the Episcopal Church," Cerar said. "Therefore, we are prohibited from functioning as ordained clergy for the next six months."
The move hasn't stopped Cerar -- or the others.
"All 21 of us have gotten ourselves recognized by either the Church of Uganda or the Church of Nigeria," he said, "so we are priests of those churches and no longer as priests in the Episcopal Church. It's a very significant thing from the perspective of the Virginia diocese, but it hasn't put me out of business. I'm still functioning as the spiritual leader of this congregation."
The Virginia diocese did not return CitizenLink's phone calls.
Next week, the heads of the Anglican Communion's 38 provinces, known as "Primates," will meet in Tanzania to discuss the possibility of breaking off relations with the American church.
It's true of course the court will have nothing to say about "theology" but neither will it care much about Canon Law, which is the basis for the diocesan claim on the property. As I understand it churches in ECUSA hold their property "in trust" for the larger church, but that is subject to civil law regarding trusts. In at least some states such trusts are unilaterally revocable. Parishes in California have already begun this process and so far the California courts have said the canon law is not enforceable as it does not conform to civil law and trusts are governed by civil law. Obviously state laws will differ and the way Virginia courts see it is yet to be determined.
That has not been clearly resolved yet. First there is Virginia law, which conflicts with the Episcopal church's much more recent (ca 1980) Dennis Canon which essentially said that from that time forward the congregation holds the property "in trust for" the diocese. And there is a question as to whether that Canon was properly ratified.
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. Isn't God great? He works even through evil done by men to achieve His good, and takes His time to set things right. That this submission by essentially white, southern churches to African bishops should take place is just amazing, amazing grace.
bump for publicity
Not only are homosexuals in leadership roles but the leadership is now saying that "Christ is not the only way to salvation". Wow! Sounds like ancient sinful biblical churches are alive and well.
Sorry -- missed your ping when I encountered the article...
...and have less facial hair.
The important part is that the Diocese apparently engaged in negotiations, offered a settlement, and then withdrew it and put the knife in.
The theology is just the reason for the "divorce", not the basis of whether there will be an automatic settlement according to a formula. In the "no-fault" atmosphere of today's courts regarding morality, fault probably won't be useful as a basis for recompense. On the other hand, the members of those churches were the ones who paid the monies to support those buildings, often for many generations of families, so they can't be expected to walk away with nothing.
That's a false statement as to these parishes. You may be confusing the Virginia cases with Florida, where the property was titled in the Bishop, and most of the faithful had to walk away. Here, the property is titled in the local parish, and the bishop is trying to argue a theory of an imposed trust.
There is also a theological error in your statement. In Anglican theology, as in Reformed, (see Art 19), the church is the people, not the property. So the technical argument is over ownership of real estate, not the Church.
Due to Virginia law, I am optimistic about the outcomes there. They (the Anglicans) are not being as aggressive in their litigation strategy as I would have been.
The diocese bishop can sell the church properties, and donate the money to sponsor Gay Pride parades
One good reason for conservative Christians to NOT have their church owning valuable assets, because these assets can be taken over by whatever group decides to take over your church. The more assets, the more tempting the takeover target
Ideally, your church building should be leased, so that if the tithing congregation leaves, it ALL goes. It gives the membership much more leverage against the leadership as well
The day after its Dec. 17 vote to join the Anglican group, the trustees of St. Stephen's (Anglican) filed a petition in the Northumberland County Circuit Court to declare them the owners of the church's property.
Their claim was made under a Virginia law that allows a judge to award church property to the majority of members voting in a church division. St. Stephen's members voted 99-33 to leave the Episcopal fold.
In their petition, the Anglicans said that none of the deeds to church property had been granted to the Episcopal Church and that neither the church nor the Virginia diocese had contributed to the purchase, building or maintenance of church property.
In response, the Virginia Diocese said it owns the property, not the current trustees of St. Stephen's.
"Principles of charitable trust law preclude the current membership of St. Stephen's Church from diverting that property to another mission of their choosing," the diocese said.
I guess we'll see. Pretty sad though when Christians start suing each other.
let the renting of cloth and the wailing and gnashing of teeth commence...
The Episcopal Church hasn't had a leader of Christ, since Dennis Bennett in 1960. The old saying is, Henry VIII began the church with a divorce and now we have it today. Or, 'no one has been saved in that Church, since Henry.'
"Church of What's Happening Now'
I haven't seen that in years. Was it from Flip Wilson?
An article, "At Axis of Episcopal Split, an Anti-Gay Nigerian", in the December 25, 2006 NY Times, claims that Bishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria (with whom some Episcopal parishes are aligning) advocates a bill in Nigeria that would not only punish homosexuality by five years in prison, would also punish public expressions of homosexuality by five years in prison. The bill, according to the article, would also prohibit homosexuals meeting in public, as at a restaurant. Can anyone shed light on this? As an American and an Episcopalian, this concerns me -- I believe in the divinity of Christ, but I also cherish our constitutional rights to freedom of speech and freedom of association.
That is my understanding as well that the issue of which entity actually owns the property has never actually been litigated.
LOL! Who would Jesus sue?
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