Episcopal Church's Diocese's appeals April 13

VIRGINIA: State Supreme Court will hear Episcopal Church's, diocese's appeals April 13

By Mary Frances Schjonberg, March 30, 2010
[Episcopal News Service] The Supreme Court of Virginia has told the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia and the Episcopal Church that it will hear arguments April 13 in two cases concerning church property, according to the diocese.
Both the diocese and the Episcopal Church had asked the court nearly a year ago to review a Fairfax County Court judge's rulings in a series of church property lawsuits.

The appeal is based on a number of grounds, including a challenge to the constitutionality of Virginia's one-of-a-kind "Division Statute" (Section 57-9(A)), which dates to the Civil War and is triggered when there is a so-called "division" of a church or religious society, as well as the rulings of the circuit court in applying the law. The county judge's ruling has allowed former Episcopalians to claim Episcopal Church property as their own.

The litigation involves nine Episcopal parishes of the diocese which the majority of members and clergy left to form congregations of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA). The case originally involved members of 11 congregations of the Virginia diocese who left the Episcopal Church to form CANA congregations. The departing members of nine of those congregations then filed claims to parish property under the Division Statute.

The diocese and the Episcopal Church in September 2008 reached a legal settlement with two of the original 11 congregations, Potomac Falls Church in Potomac Falls and Christ the Redeemer Church in Chantilly, neither of which held any real property.

Judge Randy Bellows had previously ruled that the Division Statute applied to the case and overrode the Episcopal Church's and diocese's claims to the property. He also rejected the contention of the diocese and the Episcopal Church that his application of the law was unconstitutional.

The Virginia diocese and the Episcopal Church have opposed the congregations' claims and asked the courts to declare that the property must be held and used for the mission of the Episcopal Church and the diocese.

More information about the cases, including the Supreme Court filings, is available here.

The diocese said March 29 that it had asked the Supreme Court special arrangements to accommodate overflow seating for the April 13 hearing.

St. Paul's Episcopal Church, located next to the Supreme Court building in Richmond, "has offered to serve as a gathering space for those who would like to come together as a community and spend time in prayer and fellowship" on April 13, the diocese's news release said.

-- The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is a national correspondent for the Episcopal News Service and Episcopal News Monthly editor.