By Julia Duin
November 20, 2007
Lawyers and witnesses tangled yesterday over whether disaffected Episcopal congregations can be considered part of the 77-million-member worldwide Anglican Communion in the fourth day of a lawsuit at the Fairfax County courthouse.
Ian Douglas, a professor at the Episcopal Divinity School, a seminary in Cambridge, Mass., repeatedly testified that the Anglican Communion is a "family of churches," and therefore, not divisible into factions.
"We"re not a global church," he said. "It"d be hard to create a division because it presupposes an intact whole."
Mr. Douglas was called to the stand as an expert witness on the Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church is a part, on behalf of the Diocese of Virginia and the national Episcopal Church, which are suing the 11 breakaway congregations to recover millions of dollars in property.
His testimony is being used to build a case against 11 Virginia churches that broke away from the diocese a year ago over disagreements on biblical authority and the 2003 consecration of a homosexual bishop.
The disaffected churches say an 1867 Virginia "division statute" gives them the legal right to keep the property. The case hinges on whether a "division" has occurred in the diocese and whether the Anglican Communion even allows a division. Mr. Douglas said only the Episcopal Church"s General Convention, which meets every three years and has formal procedures to handle such cases, can permit a division.
"Just because people and parishes decide to leave doesn"t constitute a division," he said.
Attorneys for the prosecution reminded Mr. Douglas that the Anglican Communion was founded when King Henry VIII of England removed his nation's churches from the Roman Catholic Church and founded the Church of England with himself as its head — a title the British monarch still holds.
"I"d prefer to say that was a move of the Spirit," Mr. Douglas said. "It was a new thing."
They also got Mr. Douglas to acknowledge he only checked Episcopal sources for his definitions, whereas the Virginia statute applies to all denominations and was passed in the context of disputes among Presbyterians, Methodists and Baptists, which split in the Civil War era over slavery and other issues.
They also pointed out that he had sworn in a prior deposition that he had agreed Sept. 21 — in a conversation with David Beers, the denomination"s chancellor — to be a witness. That is one day after the national church and the Virginia Diocese submitted a list of experts with his name on it.
"Is it your normal practice to subscribe to a position before you"ve seen it?" asked Steffen Johnson, an attorney for the breakaway congregations.
"I am a fairly public person," Mr. Douglas responded. "My positions are fairly well-known across the Episcopal Church ... I"d hope my reputation precedes me."
Midway through yesterday"s hearing, Judge Randy I. Bellows told both sides they should be prepared to argue the constitutionality of the division statute in court next month. That request reschedules the expected time of his ruling to early 2008.
"I"d prefer to issue a final decision on" the division statute, he explained, "rather than piecemeal decisions." To date, the trial has only concerned whether the division statute applies to this property dispute.
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