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Ownership of parish
property is one of the most contentious issues within The
Episcopal Church today. It is clearly the intention of
the church that property be held in trust by each
diocese for The Episcopal Church. Moreover, church
leaders have consistently asserted that only
individuals, not parishes—and certainly not dioceses—can
leave the church. Specifically, a parish may not leave
the church as an entity, and its members cannot leave
the church with the real estate, furnishings, prayer
books, and accounts. In a few cases, dioceses and
departing congregations have negotiated the terms of
their departure. This is not the place to enumerate the
results of such negotiations, but, it is fair to say
that congregations departing with their property have
had to pay for it. Those congregations that have left
The Episcopal Church and attempted to take parish
property with them have generally been sued by their
diocese. The record of such suits suggests that
congregations attempting to leave with their property
should expect to spend a good deal of money on legal
costs and, in the end, lose their case.
The documents listed below deal with the
property issue generally, or with particular cases,
including the lawsuit filed by Calvary Episcopal Church
against Bishop Robert Duncan and other diocesan leaders.
Note: Recently added items are
marked “New.” Use “Next” and “Previous” links to move
easily between entries. To view a document, click on
“View.”
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| TITLE |
St. James Church,
Elmhurst, against Episcopal Diocese of Long Island, etc. |
| AUTHOR |
Supreme Court: Queens (N.Y.) County |
| DATE |
3/12/2008 |
| ADDED |
3/31/2008 |
| TYPE |
Court decision |
| FORMAT |
PDF |
| DESCRIPTION |
Trial court decision instructing
breakaway congregation of St. James’ to turn over assets and control
of the parish to the bishop’s appointed priest-in-charge. |
| COMMENT |
St. James’, Elmhurst (Queens), is a
parish dating to colonial times that joined The Episcopal Church in
1793. The congregation voted in 2005 to leave The Episcopal Church
and join the Anglican Church in America. The court, finding The
Episcopal Church to be a hierarchical one that, through the Dennis
canon, has a trust interest in parish assets, ordered that property
be returned to the diocese. The decision could be appealed. The ENS
story on the court decision can be found
here. |
| TITLE |
On Parish
Property |
| AUTHOR |
The Very Rev. George Werner |
| DATE |
9/17/2007 |
| ADDED |
9/17/2007 |
| TYPE |
Post to e-mail list |
| FORMAT |
Web page |
| DESCRIPTION |
Dean Werner explains the
relationship of a priest and a parish as it was taught to him. |
| COMMENT |
This brief essay was sent to the
House of Bishops and Deputies E-mail List. (Minor errors have been
corrected in this version of a letter not original intended for
publication.) Werner emphasizes the nature of a priest’s stewardship
of a parish, a humble perspective we have seen little of recently. |
| TITLE |
The Mercy of
Property ... is strained |
| AUTHOR |
Tobias Haller BSG |
| DATE |
6/27/2007 |
| ADDED |
8/26/2007 |
| TYPE |
Blog post |
| FORMAT |
Web page |
| DESCRIPTION |
This essay explains why parish
property does not actually belong to parishioners |
| COMMENT |
This essay, in part a reflection on
the Los Angeles property cases (see decision here),
echoes many of the ideas in “Property Constraints” (below). |
 |
| TITLE |
Another letter
from Bishop Howe: No civil war in the diocese, please |
| AUTHOR |
Bishop John Howe (reported by “Saint
Pat”) |
| DATE |
7/25/2007 |
| ADDED |
8/28/2007 |
| TYPE |
Blog post |
| FORMAT |
Web page |
| DESCRIPTION |
Central Florida blogger “Saint Pat”
reports a letter from the bishop of her diocese John Howe. |
| COMMENT |
The letter in question is from the
Bishop of Central Florida to members of the Diocesan Board and
Standing Committee. The rather complicated context of this letter
can largely be inferred from the content. Obviously, some diocesan
leaders would like to remove the diocese and its property from The
Episcopal Church. (Resolution NAC023, reported
here, seems to have had a part
in raising the issues addressed in the letter.) Howe, a conservative and acknowledged “Windsor
Bishop,” nonetheless argues that he is bound by rules he must
uphold. He argues that, if one wishes to leave The Episcopal Church,
it must be done empty-handed. He does not rule out his own departure
at some future time, but he says that he would simply resign and
retire.. “There is no way I can imagine that I would or could
attempt to remove the Diocese from The Episcopal Church.” |
| TITLE |
In re: Episcopal
Church Cases |
| AUTHOR |
Justice David Sills |
| DATE |
6/25/2007 |
| ADDED |
8/24/2007 |
| TYPE |
California Fourth Appellate District
Opinion |
| FORMAT |
Microsoft Word |
| DESCRIPTION |
Decision on appeal by the Diocese of
Los Angeles to lower-court rulings in favor of breakaway parishes to
retain their property. |
| COMMENT |
Although church property cases
occasionally find their way to the Federal courts, most decisions
are made at the state level. Nearly everywhere, the law favors The
Episcopal Church in disputes with dissent congregations over
property. ( See “In re: Church of St. James the Less,” a
Pennsylvania decision, below.) California has
tended to be the exception to this rule, and a number of cases in
recent years have favored breakaway congregations from the Episcopal
and other churches. The decision here involves several cases
appealed by the Diocese of Los Angeles. The long (77-page) decision
is included here not only because it reversed the lower-court
decisions, but because the judge reviewed the history of how the
legal system has tried to deal with such disputes, from the
beginning of the Republic. As such, it makes very interesting
reading, providing insight into church-property cases wherever
argued. |
| TITLE |
Calvary Suit
Status |
| AUTHOR |
Kenneth Stiles |
| DATE |
Appeared in the June 2007 issue of
PEPtalk, the Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh
newsletter. The entire issue can be read
here. |
| ADDED |
8/23/2007 |
| TYPE |
Story |
| FORMAT |
Web page |
| DESCRIPTION |
The author provides background and
information about the current state of the Calvary Church lawsuit. |
| COMMENT |
By no means is this a history of the
Calvary Lawsuit, but it does explain what the suit is about and
chronicles recent activity related to it. |
|
|
| TITLE |
Connecting the
Dots |
| AUTHOR |
House of Bishops Task Force on
Property Disputes |
| DATE |
4/9/2007 |
| ADDED |
8/24/2007 |
| TYPE |
Report |
| FORMAT |
PDF |
| DESCRIPTION |
This report to the House of Bishops
intends to demonstrate: “TEC is dealing with a well-thought-out,
well-organized, and well-funded strategy designed to enable and
justify the removal of assets from use for the Church’s mission and
ministry in the world.” |
| COMMENT |
This so-called “Sauls Report”
relies, in part, on documents surrendered by the defendants in the
discovery phase of the Calvary lawsuit. The report and its
appendices are collected together in a single file unavailable
elsewhere on the Web. This version includes bookmarks and live links
between the body of the report and its appendices. The report, with
appendices, is 41-pages long. |
|
|
| TITLE |
Calvary Files
Petition in Court of Common Pleas |
| AUTHOR |
Calvary Church |
| DATE |
12/20/2006 |
| ADDED |
8/23/2007 |
| TYPE |
Story |
| FORMAT |
Web page |
| DESCRIPTION |
This story describes Calvary
Church’s return to court to request enforcement of the agreement of
10/14/2005 (available
here). |
| COMMENT |
According to the story, Calvary
claimed that the diocese had effectively removed property from The
Episcopal Church, in violation of the agreement reached more than a
year before. This issue is still unresolved. |
|
|
| TITLE |
In re: Church of
St. James the Less |
| AUTHOR |
Justice Russell Nigro |
| DATE |
12/29/2005 |
| ADDED |
8/24/2007 |
| TYPE |
Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision |
| FORMAT |
PDF |
| DESCRIPTION |
Decision in the appeal to the
Pennsylvania Supreme Court by St. James the Less. |
| COMMENT |
St. James the Less tried to remove
itself and its property from The Episcopal Church. The Diocese of
Pennsylvania sued and won. The appeal by St. James the Less was
unsuccessful. There is a cautionary lesson here for congregations
that might follow the lead of St. James the Less. |
|
|
| TITLE |
Stipulation by
Counsel |
| AUTHOR |
Attorneys in Calvary Episcopal
Church, et al. vs. Duncan, et al. |
| DATE |
10/14/2005 |
| ADDED |
10/11/2007 |
| TYPE |
Court filing |
| FORMAT |
PDF |
| DESCRIPTION |
“Settlement” resulting from lawsuit
brought by Calvary Church against Bishop Duncan and other diocesan
leaders. See all public documents related to the case
below. |
| COMMENT |
Two years after Calvary Church sued
Bishop Duncan and other diocesan leaders on behalf of the diocese
(i.e., Calvary Church claimed to be acting in the interest of the
Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh), this settlement was reached and
presented to the court. The lawsuit was initiated because of concern
that diocesan leaders would not protect property it held in trust
for The Episcopal Church. Among other things, this agreement appears
to acknowledge the trust exercised by “the Episcopal Diocese of
Pittsburgh of the Episcopal Church of the United States of America.”
It also outlines a procedure intended to prevent congregations
leaving The Episcopal Church from being given a “sweetheart” deals
on parish property from a sympathetic diocese. The procedure becomes especially
interesting now, in that Bishop Duncan has been suggesting that the
diocese can separate itself from The Episcopal Church and require
parishes to follow the agreed-upon procedure in order to remain
in The Episcopal Church. It is difficult, however, to understand how the
bishop could claim to have left The Episcopal Church yet still claim
jurisdiction, administrative or otherwise, over “the Episcopal
Diocese of Pittsburgh of the Episcopal Church of the United States
of America.” (This document is available elsewhere. The version
here, however, is searchable, although perhaps not perfectly.) |
| TITLE |
Property
Constraints |
| AUTHOR |
Lionel Deimel |
| DATE |
Appeared in the 9/5/2004 issue of
The Living Church |
| ADDED |
8/23/2007 |
| TYPE |
Essay |
| FORMAT |
Web page |
| DESCRIPTION |
An exploration of the “legal,
ethical, and practical arguments” around departing church members
attempting to take church property with them. |
| COMMENT |
The essay first appeared as a
Reader’s Viewpoint column in The Living Church. The arguments
are still relevant three years later, though it should be noted that
any attempt to liquidate the assets of a parish and divide it among
members may run afoul of the IRS. |
|
|
 |
| TITLE |
Calvary Episcopal
Church, et al. vs. Duncan, et al. |
| AUTHOR |
Allegheny County Prothonotary |
| DATE |
10/24/2003 – |
| ADDED |
8/23/2007 |
| TYPE |
Listing of public documents related
to Calvary lawsuit |
| FORMAT |
Web page |
| DESCRIPTION |
Public documents and information
related to the lawsuit are available here |
| COMMENT |
The parties agreed not to make
certain documents public. Some of the documents once posted here are
no longer available from the Prothonotary site. |
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