This isn’t going to be of much interest unless you’re a progressive/liberal/God is doing a new thing Episcopalian.
The Diocese of Pittsburgh, which is headed by a very conservative, “network” bishop, has settled a court case with a more liberal parish of that diocese. At issue: property, and who owns it if an entire diocese elects to remove itself from the larger, more liberal Episcopal church, but a liberal church within that diocese says “no, we’re staying and we’re keeping our church and its endowment.”
The settlement is favorable to the liberal parish. As I’m a member of Holy Moly’s Bishop’s Committee (the mission version of a parish vestry) I found this document interesting, not for the legal precedent set but for the clear and even-tempered tone and the solidity of the vestry’s resolve.
It seems they were not of one mind regarding gay clergy, but they were single-minded in recognizing that their diocese was positioning itself to split from the national church AND take all the property with it.
And this, they wouldn’t stand for, so they filed suit and put the money they normally would pay to the diocese in escrow. In the settlement, they gave about 1/3 to the diocese, and get to keep the rest.
Again, only interesting if you’re into churchy politics and so on. But we at Holy Moly are lucky in that we’re a liberal parish in a liberal diocese, and we had a very nice visit from our Bishop Perselle and his lovely wife Nancy a couple of weeks ago. Some of the issues we discussed over lunch then were relevant to this story.
So: interesting probably only to me. But there it is. Both sides are trumpeting victory, but I suspect the real winner is the progressive point of view. However, the settlement also calls for the two sides to agree to mediation, and sets out a process for a parish to disaffiliate in an orderly manner from a diocese. This may be used as a precedent for those cases where a conservative parish tries to leave a more liberal diocese and take its property with it. If so, the model is one of decorum and proper procedure, rather than rancor and name-calling.
Calvary Files Complaint in the Court of Common Pleas RESOLUTION!
Property Held by the Diocese. The settlement clearly states that even if “a majority of the parishes in the Diocese might decide not to remain in the Episcopal Church of the United States of America,” that property “held or administered by the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh of the Episcopal Church of the United States of America” for the beneficial use of the parishes and institutions of the Diocese, shall continue to be so held. Otherwise put, this means that in the event that some congregations leave ECUSA, the remaining congregations (however few in number) would be the ones entitled to use of both real property, e.g. Calvary Camp, and personal Diocesan property, e.g. endowment funds.
Property Held by Parishes. Importantly, the settlement establishes that any parish electing to disaffiliate with the Diocese must follow a process which provides for openness and rights of both participation and objection by all interested parties. A key provision is the requirement that notification of desired disaffiliation be sent to all members of the parish in question, the Bishop, the Board of Trustees of the Diocese, and the Rector and Vestry of every other parish in the Diocese. The settlement also provides for initial mediation of property disputes regarding such disaffiliation. Importantly, the settlement also provides in paragraph 2(c) that any interested person or entity is free to lodge an objection through the courts for a judicial determination as to any Property rights and obligations in connection with the disaffiliation. Thus, should a dispute arise in the future, the Property interests relating to individual parishes can be adjudicated, if necessary, after full disclosure to all.
