By TINA ESHLEMAN
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, Nov 13, 2007
A judge in Fairfax County will hear evidence starting today in the church-property dispute between the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia and a group of congregations that left to affiliate with the Anglican Church of Nigeria.
The case involves 11 Northern Virginia congregations in which the majority of members voted to break with the Episcopal Church -- the U.S.-based wing of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
The votes occurred because of disagreements about what one of the group's leaders called the Episcopal Church's "blatant rejection of the authority of Scripture." The consecration of an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire in 2003 brought the disagreements to a boiling point.
"That made us take a look at what was going on -- and we were appalled," said Jim Oakes, vice-chairman of the Anglican District of Virginia, which formed to unite the breakaway congregations and others with similar beliefs. "What that told us was we couldn't even agree on the ground rules for discussing the issue."
The Anglican District of Virginia belongs to a larger organization called the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, which describes itself as a missionary branch of the Church of Nigeria.
After the votes, the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia filed suit to retain the property occupied by the departing congregations. Their stance is that "Episcopal Church property, while held by local trustees, is held in trust for the benefit of the Episcopal Church, the Diocese of Virginia and Episcopalians throughout the generations," according to a statement from the diocese.
The departing congregations filed petitions in court reporting their votes to leave the denomination and affiliate with the Church of Nigeria through the Convocation of Anglicans in North America. They also sought to hold onto the properties that have been the congregations' homes.
The trial will focus on how a section of Virginia law -- passed in the wake of denominational schisms over slavery and the Civil War -- applies in this case. The law states that where a church or religious society experiences a division, affiliated congregations may vote to determine which branch of the divided body they wish to join.
According to a ruling by Fairfax Circuit Judge Randy I. Bellows, the trial will focus on whether there has been a division within the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia, whether the Anglican Communion meets the law's definition of a church or religious society, whether there is a division in the Anglican Communion and whether the departing churches were attached to the Anglican Communion.
The Diocese of Virginia argues that the governing body of the Episcopal Church "has not formally divided the church or the diocese" and that in a hierarchical church, state law requires a showing that the property conveyance is the wish of the church authorities.
But the congregations that are now part of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America say in court filings that there is a division in the Anglican Communion.
"The division has led more than half of the provinces of the Anglican Communion to announce a severance of relations with [the Episcopal Church] and has prompted a substantial number of congregations in the United States to disaffiliate from [the Episcopal Church] and their dioceses."
The trial is scheduled for six days.
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