Posted on 10/03/2005 5:49:42 PM PDT by sionnsar
There will your heart be also:
During the fall meeting of the House of Bishops, twenty-eight bishops from across the Episcopal Church met to explore the creation of a resource to assist congregations and dioceses in the challenging work of resolving property disputes. Concern was expressed regarding the emotional, spiritual, and financial costs of such disputes and the potential benefit of pooling experience, expertise, and other resources to assist in these difficult processes. It was imagined that such resources might include legal, canonical, financial, real estate, and mediation experts.
Because of the proliferation of lawsuits about church property, there is both a growing body of experience and wisdom emerging across the nation in these matters, as well as predictability that many more dioceses and bishops will face these challenges in the near future. Bishops deeply feel their responsibility to be good stewards of sacred places. To be drawn into litigious contests that threaten profound loss does harm to the past generation who contributed to the mission of the Episcopal Church and denies future generations rightful resources.
Bishop William Swing, California, brought this matter before the House of Bishops. He stated that a Steering Committee of ten people - bishops, chancellors, and lawyers - will be recruited immediately and that a report on its progress will be made at the next meeting of the House of Bishops.
Interesting comment, that. If they let orthodox Christians keep their meeting houses without going to court and paying lawyers lots and lots of money, ECUSA bishops feel that they would not be "good stewards of sacred places." Apparently, what orthodox Christians do inside their churches is not "sacred."
The House of Bishops has created a 10-member task force of attorneys and other experts to help defend the Episcopal Church and its dioceses against attempts by congregations or other dioceses to secede from the Episcopal Church with their property.
Twenty-eight bishops from across the geographic and theological spectrum met during the House of Bishops’ San Juan meeting Sept. 22-27 and explored “the creation of a resource to assist congregations and dioceses in the challenging work of resolving property disputes,” a press release by the group stated.
Motivated by a desire to be “good stewards of sacred places,” the bishops’ statement said they would pool their “experience, expertise, and other resources” to face the rising tide of property litigation.
“To be drawn into litigious contests that threaten profound loss does harm to the past generations who contributed to the mission of the Episcopal Church and denies future generations rightful resources,” the statement said.
The organizer of the caucus, the Rt. Rev. William Swing, Bishop of California, stated a steering committee of 10 bishops, chancellors, and lawyers would be “recruited immediately” and would report to the next meeting of the House of Bishops on their progress.
The Bishop of Lexington, the Rt. Rev. Stacy F. Sauls told The Living Church the formation of the legal network was “one of the main accomplishments” of the House of Bishops’ meeting.
“I think that many bishops felt, as I do, that we could be more effective in exercising our fiduciary responsibilities by working in cooperation with each other rather than in isolation,” Bishop Sauls said. He will serve on the steering committee.
One participant said bishops from both sides of the human sexuality divide participated in the discussions, citing the presence of the bishops of Central Florida, Pennsylvania, Florida, Kansas and Los Angeles among the participants. Bishop Sauls concurred, saying, “All of us were committed to the mission and ministry of the Episcopal Church and the strong belief that the resources given for that purpose should be protected.”
He noted the underlying issues were broader than “property concerns.” “Ecclesiastical discipline, community accountability, fostering reconciliation, and jurisdictional issues” were cross party concerns that must be tackled in cooperation rather “than working in isolation.”
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Full text of the press release below:
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. Do these bishops maintain with a straight face that the current mission of the ECUSA would meet with approval of those past generations?
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