Connecticut Diocese Seeks Damages from Former Bristol Vestry

08/20/07

The Diocese of Connecticut has initiated legal action against the former rector and vestry of Trinity Church, Bristol, asking the court to order the 11 defendants to pay $15,000 in diocesan legal fees as well as unspecified punitive damages.

“By their actions, including their formal alignment with CANA [Convocation of Anglicans in North America] and their departure from union with the Diocese of Connecticut, defendants have relinquished all legal right to possess or control the subject real property of Trinity Episcopal Parish and the personal property of Trinity Episcopal Parish,” the diocese stated in a 35-page legal brief filed with the Superior Court in New Britain, Conn., on Aug. 7.

A spokesperson for the diocese declined to comment on pending litigation when contacted by a reporter from The Living Church.

Last May, Fr. Helmandollar, the vestry and a majority of members at Trinity voted to leave The Episcopal Church and affiliate with the Anglican Church of Nigeria.

Trinity was incorporated in 1834 and its petition for admission into union with the diocese was approved during the annual convention the following year, according to facts alleged in the diocesan complaint. In the legal brief filed with the court the diocese lists a number of incidents when the parish leadership at Trinity acknowledged being a constituent member of the diocese including as recently as August 2005 when Fr. Helmandollar joined with several other diocesan priests in filing an ecclesiastical complaint against the Rt. Rev. Andrew D. Smith, Bishop of Connecticut, over the manner in which Bishop Smith removed the Rev. Mark Hansen as rector of St. John’s, Bristol. A church-wide review committee formally cleared Bishop Smith of all charges alleged in that complaint earlier this year.

Connecticut state law provides that “the manner of conducting the parish, the qualifications for membership of the parish and the manner of acquiring and terminating such membership, the number of officers of the parish, their powers and duties and the manner of their appointment,… shall be such as are provided and prescribed by the constitution, canons and regulations of said Protestant Episcopal Church in this state.”

While conceding that the diocese had made a strong argument in its legal brief, Fr. Helmandollar disputed some of the facts upon which it is based. For example, Trinity received its organizational charter from the Church of England in 1746, when neither the Diocese of Connecticut nor The Episcopal Church existed. He contends that Trinity never intentionally chose to align with The Episcopal Church and also questioned whether a court would hold volunteer parish leaders financially accountable for carrying out decisions reached at parish meetings.

“It has been difficult for many in the congregation to deal with the legal implications,” Fr. Helmandollar said. “We are not trying to be hard nosed or disobedient. We believe we must come under godly leadership and that we have been called to be a witness for the gospel.”

This article comes from The Living Church Foundation
http://www.livingchurch.org/

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