FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

From:	Church of the Word 14215 Lee Highway Gainesville, VA 20155
Phone: Fax: E-Mail: Web:	703-754-9673 703-754-9674 admin@churchoftheword.net http://www.churchoftheword.net
Subject:	Supreme Court of Virginia Ruling on THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH vs. TRURO CHURCH, et al. Record Number 090683
Issued:	10 June 2010

Background

Church of the Word is 24 years old, having been a church plant from Church of the Apostles in Fairfax. About 16 years ago the parish bought its current property in Gainesville. Since then the membership has been solely responsible for the mortgage and upkeep of the property. In December 2006, after divisions in the Episcopal Church became apparent to everyone, Church of the Word membership determined in a near unanimous vote that God was calling us to affiliate with the Anglican District of Virginia, an association of churches under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), a branch of the Anglican Communion.

This decision was made after an exhaustive discernment process encouraged by the Diocese of Virginia in its protocol for departing congregations. Once this decision was made and the vote registered with the local authorities, the Diocese had indicated that it would work towards an amicable settlement of any outstanding property issues. Unfortunately this did not happen and instead the diocese entered into a lawsuit with the departing congregations. This lawsuit ended in January 2009 with a decision in favor of the congregations. Since then, the diocese has appealed the January 2009 judgement, and on November 9, 2009, the Supreme Court of Virginia granted a hearing of the appeal.

Today's Ruling

The case before the Supreme Court of Virginia, although it was recognized to have a great deal of merit, was 'reversed' and 'remanded' back to the lower court for further consideration.

Today's decision was a setback and a delay in our path to secure our property for our future use. It is not clear yet what our legal options might be and it may take some time for the best course to emerge. The Vestry will be on top of this issue and will keep the congregation briefed. However we do have many possible responses available to our legal team. We remain confident of the rightness of our case and believe that justice will prevail eventually.

Jim Oakes, chairman of the Anglican District of Virginia, said "We are disappointed with today's ruling and will review it as we consider our options. This is not the final chapter in this matter. The court's ruling simply involved one of our statutory defenses, and these properties are titled in the name of the congregations' trustees, not in the name of the Diocese or The Episcopal Church. So we continue to be confident in our legal position as we move forward and will remain steadfast in our effort to defend the historic Christian faith."

If you would like to read the complete ruling that was released today, please visit: http://www.courts.state.va.us/opinions/opnscvwp/1090682.pdf

The Future for our congregation

The membership of Church of the Word and all of the important ministries which take place within our building should be assured that our Sunday worship and weekday activities will continue as before. We expect some disruption from the VDOT work around us, the major part of which will not begin until the fall of 2010. We will always maintain good access to the property and the vestry will work hard to ensure the safety and convenience of the buildings and surroundings for our growing church family. We have already been making significant improvements this summer and we look forward to restarting our ministries in the fall.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. [Romans 8:28 NIV]