Traditional Anglicans Win In US Legal Skirmish.

AMERICAN JUDGE RULES FOR

AMERICAN ANGLICAN TRADITIONALISTS
By Michael Conlon, Religion Writer.

:: Edited By Uncle Monty ::

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CHICAGO (Reuters) - A U.S. court has ruled in favor of

11 conservative congregations that broke away from the

U.S. Episcopal Church and want to keep property worth

millions of dollars, parties in the dispute said on Friday.
The ruling by a Virginia judge is the latest development

in an upheaval over orthodoxy roiling the global Anglican

community. The Episcopal Church, the faith's U.S. branch,

has been beset by disputes, including one involving the

installation of an openly gay bishop.

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The churches that defected hailed the Virginia ruling as

a victory but the decision is an initial one involving only

one point of law and lengthy proceedings are ahead.
"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," said Jim Oakes, vice chairman of the

Anglican District of Virginia to which the traditionalist

churches now belong. "Our churches' own trustees

hold title for the benefit of the congregations."

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Among the 11 breakaway congregations are the

Falls Church and Truro Church, which have affiliated

with the Anglican Church of Nigeria, led by Archbishop

Peter Akinola. In the case of Falls Church and Truro

the property is said to be worth at least $25 million,

with historic roots -- both George Washington

and his father served on the vestry at Truro.

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The 2.4 million-member Episcopal Church claims

that all church property belongs to it and that when

a congregation switches allegiance, the property is

merely "abandoned."

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The 77+ million-member Anglican Communion, a global

federation of Anglican/Episcopal national churches,

has been in upheaval since 2003 when the Episcopal

Church consecrated Gene Robinson of New Hampshire

as the first bishop known to be in an openly gay relat-

ionship in more than four centuries of church history.
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Disputes over scriptural authority, the blessing of gay

unions and other matters have become a worldwide

issue and threaten turmoil this summer when

Anglicans gather for their once-a-decade

Lambeth Conference in Britain.

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There are several U.S. property disputes and more

looming. In the Virginia case Judge Randy Bellows of

the Fairfax County Circuit Court ruled that the defecting

congregations are covered by a state law written during

the (American) Civil War era.

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The statute says any "church or religious society" that

"divides" remains under the control of the majority, as

does property entrusted to it. The law was adopted in

response to numerous church splits arising during the

19th century, before, during and after the Civil War.

Both Methodists and Presbyterians successfully

invoked the statute immediately after its

adoption in 1867.

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Among the issues still to be decided is whether the

Virginia law conflicts with the U.S. Constitution's

guarantee of church-state separation, since a

national church is involved.

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"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 Episcopal Diocese of

Virginia said in statement after Thursday's court ruling.
The defectors "were free to leave but they cannot take

Episcopal property with them," it added.

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(Reuter News Editing by Ed

Stoddard and Bill Trott)
April 4th, 2oo8.

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:: NEWS UPDATE ::

US Episcopal Church says court ruling

violates constitutional rights. Oxford,

Ohio (ENI). The presiding bishop of the

US Episcopal (Anglican) Church - Bishop

Katharine Jefferts Schori - has said

that a Virginia court ruling in favour of

11 breakaway churches that want to keep

church property is a violation of the First

Amendment of the US constitution, which guar-

antees the separation of Church and State.

The court ruled on 3 April that the Virginia

congregations which broke away are covered

by a state law written during the US Civil

War era. The statute says that any congre-

gation that "divides" remains under the

control of the majority, as does property

entrusted to it.

Ecumenical News Service

April 11th, 2oo8.