By: Dan Roem
07/03/2007
The legal fight between the Episcopal Church and the 11 Virginia congregations that left the church en masse late last year will not be ending any time soon.
For now, both sides are caught up with procedural motions in the battle over church property.
On June 29, Fairfax County Circuit Court judge Randy Bellows ordered that the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia and its former congregates figure out a way to formally identify church members who are involved in the fight.
More than 100 individuals are already named in the suit, and the Episcopal Church has asked that the names of the vestry and the trustees of each breakaway church be listed separately in the suit.
Among the defendants are representatives from St. Paul's Church in Haymarket and Church of the Word in Gainesville.
The Episcopal Church and its Diocese of Virginia claim that when the congregates of St. Paul's, Church of the Word and the nine other churches voted to split from the Episcopal Church and join the Convocation of Anglicans in North America in 2006, those groups gave up their rights to use church property, including the buildings and real estate.
But the breakaway churches argue they are the legal property owners since their names are on the deeds. The church members also claim that the diocese never actually owned any of the contested property because, they say, Virginia law does not recognize denominational trusts. The diocese disputes that claim.
According to Diocese of Virginia secretary Patrick Getlein, adding the names of previously unidentified vestry members to the defense list is part of the legal nuances Episcopals need to work through before oral arguments over property control begin in three months.
"Each local congregation is governed, that is to say managed, by a group of individuals who are collectively known as the vestry," Getlein explained. "Those people are the elected leaders. They're the legal representatives of the church for any legal matter. They're the legal agents of the church."
The diocese therefore wants those individuals formally named in the lawsuit.
But this motion did not sit well with the lawyers for the breakaway churches.
"The Episcopal Church is making no claims against us that would make liabilities against individuals," said Jim Oakes, vice president of the Anglican District of Virginia, adding that Virginia law "basically grants immunity to volunteers," and vestry members qualify, Oakes said.
Getlein said he would not "even begin to speculate on how long this [will] take," referring to the legal dispute as a whole.
Oakes declared that the breakaway churches "deplore the fact that the Episcopal Church has chosen to use the civil courts to pursue this case" instead of working out an agreement outside court.
A dismissal motion from the breakaway churches is next on the docket.
If that is not granted, then oral arguments are set to begin Nov. 19.
The complaints against the 11 parishes have been consolidated into one suit, which is being heard in Fairfax.
Getlein and Oakes confirmed talks between the two sides have stalled since the judge issued his order last week.
Oakes said the breakaway Anglicans are willing to talk, but the Episcopals "have expressed no desire to do that."
He added, "In our opinion, we think [the court case] a waste of time, money and resources that we think could be spent better on mission work."
But to Getlein, the fight is worth it.
"There is a huge amount of support for the diocese and for the continuing congregations," he said, citing gifts and loans given to various diocesan parishes from Episcopals across the country.
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