Virginia Judge Gives Breakaway Episcopal Churches A Preliminary Victory

In a startling departure from previous rulings on church property disputes, a Fairfax, VA Circuit Judge gave eleven former Episcopal Churches a preliminary victory concerning the ownership of property.

WASHINGTON (Catholic Online) - The Episcopal Church has watched their numbers and even their parish affiliations dwindle in recent years, due in a major part, to the consecration of a practicing homosexual bishop and related issues.

Normally, parishes have been constrained from leaving because if they did so, they would have to leave their church buildings and other property behind.

In a major shift, A Fairfax, Virginia Circuit Judge has issued a ruling that dramatically favors eleven parishes who recently broke away from the Diocese of Virginia to affiliate with other Anglican jurisdictions.

The eleven included two of the most prominent churches in the Eastern Seaboard, Truro Church and The Falls Church, who both affiliated with the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), which is administered through the Anglican Church of Nigeria.

The opinion from Judge Randy Bellows was released Thursday evening. In the 83 page document, the judge ruled that Virginia's Civil War-era "division statute" which gives property to departing congregations still is applicable with respect to the congregations who have recently left, applies to the these congregations today.

The judge rejected arguments by the Episcopal Church that the disputes taking place in the ECUSA were so minor that this statute should not apply.

"The court finds that a division has occurred in the diocese. Over 7 percent of the churches in the diocese, 11 percent of its baptized membership and 18 percent of the diocesan average attendance of 32,000 [per Sunday] have left in the past two years."

This ruling does not give the parishes automatic right to their property but explains the Virginia statutes that the judge will use in making his determination. Obviously, a challenge has been raised as to the constitutionality of the law and whether it can be legally upheld for the current situation.

Judge Bellows' ruling refers to a law enacted in 1867 after numerous church splits were experienced before, during, and after the Civil War. Methodist and Presbyterians were the hardest hit during that era and used the statute on many occasions.

The parishes had all severed ties with the Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA) in 2006 and we brought to court by the Diocese in the fall of 2007. The ruling by the court does not necessarily indicate a shift in the laws concerning church property in general but is based on some specific dynamics

In an interview with Reuters, Jim Oakes, vice chairman of the Anglican District of Virginia for CANA, stated, "We have maintained all along that the Episcopal Church and Diocese of Virginia had no legal right to our property because (Virginia law) says that the majority of the church is entitled to its property when there is a division within the denomination. Our churches' own trustees hold title for the benefit of the congregations."

The posture of the Episcopal Church has always been that the property is all held by the denomination. When a congregation leaves, they forfeit all rights to the property.

The fight may not be over. Following the ruling on Thursday, the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia released the following: "At issue is the government's ability to intrude into the freedom of the Episcopal Church and other churches to organize and govern themselves according to their faith and doctrine,"

The diocese further stated that the separated churches "were free to leave but they cannot take Episcopal property with them."

Hearings on the constitutionality of this law are scheduled to be heard in May.

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