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Loading ...Conservative parishes lose in Episcopal gay clergy feud
01.06.2009 12:17pm EST
(San Francisco, California) The state’s high court ruled Monday that three Southern California parishes that left the U.S. Episcopal Church over its ordination of gay ministers cannot retain ownership of their church buildings and property.
In an unanimous decision, the California Supreme Court ruled that the property belongs to the Episcopal Church because the parishes agreed to abide by the mother church’s rules, which include specific language about property ownership.St. James Church in Newport Beach, All Saints Church in Long Beach and St. David’s Church in North Hollywood pulled out of the 2.1 million-member national Episcopal Church in 2004 and sought to retain property ownership.
Each church held deeds in their names to the property. The court ruled that Episcopal Church canons made it clear the property belonged to the individual parishes only as long as they remained part of the bigger church.
“When it disaffiliated from the general church, the local church did not have the right to take the church property with it,” Supreme Court Justice Ming Chin wrote for the seven-member court.
The 2003 ordination of an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire set off a wide-ranging debate within the church and upset conservative congregations. Since then, four dioceses and about 100 individual churches have split and set off bitter religious and legal feuds over church doctrine and division of property.
An attorney for the U.S. Episcopal Church said that the California Supreme Court ruling will be influential in other similar property disputes across the country.
“This was a thorough and conclusive ruling,” said Episcopal Church lawyer John Shiner.
Bishop Jon Bruno, head of the 85,000-person Los Angeles Diocese, said he was “overjoyed” with the ruling and hoped it would prompt reconciliation talks with the three churches.
“I’m a Christian and I believe there is always the possibility of reconciliation,” Bruno said. “It has been devastating for both sides.”
A lawyer for one of the breakaway churches, St. James, said it will continue to fight for control of the property despite the ruling.
“St. James holds the deed free and clear,” attorney Eric Sohlgren said. “The Episcopal Church hasn’t contributed a dime to St. James in 50 years.”
Similar legal battles are expected in Pittsburgh, Fort Worth, Texas, and Quincy, Ill., where dioceses recently voted to split from the national church.
On Dec. 19, 2008, a Virginia judge citing a Civil War-era state law there ruled in favor of 11 congregations in their split from the main church.
The Episcopal Church, with about 2.1 million members in the U.S., is the American body of the Anglican Communion, with about 77 million members worldwide.
It’s about time that the courts realized that there is this thing called “Canon Law”. Being an ex member of the Anglican Church of Canada I have taken great interest in these developments. This has also been the ruling in Canada regarding breakaway churches. Bishop Bruno, however, needs to get his head ot of the sand. Just bid them God’s speed and show them the door.
It’s because of the attitude and hypocrise of the conservative element that I now consider myself ex Anglican.
Howard Ahmanson is a member of St. James “Nigerian Anglican” “church” in Newport Beach. He and Richard Mellon Scaife are the major money behind the attempted conservative takeovers of MOST of the mainline Christian denominations. That means, among other things, that St. James has almost unlimited money to continue litigating ad infinitum. Ahmanson also bankrolls the über-conservative American Anglican Council, and the “bishop” who heads it was the last ECUSA rector of St. James. Ahmanson is a disciple of R. L. Rushdooney and the Dominionists / Christian Reconstructionists, though he has *claimed* to disassociate himself from some of their more extreme points of view in recent years … like executing homosexuals (!).
A win for common sense. If they want to start a new congregation, aligning themselves with that pompous Nigerian moron - more power to them - but NOT with the property that belongs to the Episcopal Church.
FINALLY! Those people who have tried to destroy the Episcopal Church in the U.S. have been booted out without any claim to any property. Let this be a lesson for those who seek to politicize the exclusion of others: GET YOUR OWN CHURCH!
The real question is how many of our community will now go to those churches and join their congregations to show their solidarity with the US Episcopal leaders? We say that churches only want money and power. Now that a church is working to bring approval to homosexuality, shall we spend our money to support them and help to build their power?
I hope that anyone that is looking for a place of worship will look into the Episcopal Church. Yes, I’m probably a bit biased as I was baptized into the Church as an infant.
But, as I grew I have found a wonderful community that is open, loving and caring.
Amen, Trace!
I have mixed feelings about this ruling. Of course, I am glad the Episcopal Church USA is sticking by Bishop Robinson and supporting gay equality. But I think local churches should control their local property regardless of whether they are pro-gay, anti-gay, etc. This issue has dogged the predominantly-gay Metropolitan Community Church denomination in recent years. Finally, MCC, to its credit, has allowed breakaway churches (I belong to one) to retain their property. However, MCC’s central headquarters still retains power to shut down small churches by declaring them “failed” and in those situations can take over their property. Many Catholic churches have faced the same issue when they have dared to defy a bishop or resist a diocesan decision to sell off a “surplus” building. Some would argue that local churches have contracts with their denomination, and they have no choice but to play by the denomination’s rules (canon laws). Maybe so, but that makes it no less painful when a denominational representative arrives at a church and takes control. Beware of royal Big Brother, no matter his gleaming miter and flowing robes.
This is not about homosexuality or relgion - the case is about contract enforcement. If you choose to affiliate into a certain sort of denomination and the rules (canons) from the beginning state that disaffiliation will cost your property, then so be it. You should have thought about that before entering the agreement and/or remained an independent entity from the start. It seems rather similar to a franchise agreement.
In any event, let’s hope gay people flock to affirming relgious groups like the Epicopal Church USA, the United Church of Christ (UCC), Reformed Judism, etc. instead of staying and tacitly supported their homophobic “birth” relgion.