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Third strike for Episcopalians
Last Tuesday, the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia received yet another blow in its fight to retrieve eight properties from 11 congregations that recently left the church.
In a ruling issued last week, Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Randy Bellows again suggested that the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia does not have the right to repossess the properties. However, the issue will still ultimately be resolved in a trial set for October.
The 11 churches broke away from the Episcopal Church in 2007, following the appointment of an openly gay bishop and the resulting divisions within the Episcopal Church.
At the center of the litigation is the Civil War-era Virginia “division statute,” which provides that when a religious denomination or diocese experiences a “division,” member congregations may determine by majority vote which branch of the divided body they wish to join. The statute also says that this determination governs the ownership of property.
In April, Bellows ruled that the congregations properly invoked the division statute. On June 27, Bellows ruled that the statute itself is constitutional and said that the property issue would go to hearing in October. But, in two footnotes to the June 27 ruling, Bellows left open the question of whether the statute violated the contracts clause of the U.S. Constitution.
On Aug. 19, Bellows addressed this issue, to the continued consternation of the Episcopal Diocese. The opinion is the third time that Bellows has made a ruling or issued an opinion against Diocesan claims on the properties.
"The Contracts Clause does not protect [the] Diocese's alleged contractual rights in property not acquired prior to February 18, 1867, whether or not the congregations acquiring the property did themselves exist prior to 1867," Bellows wrote, essentially refuting the Diocese's previous claim that it had pre-contractual rights to the properties.
Bellows also said that Virginia law did not even allow churches to own property at the time of the statute's inception, permitting only trustees of those churches to do so.
The 11 now-Anglican churches responded to the opinion in a unified release, saying: “We are pleased that Judge Bellows ruled in our favor on these questions. He ruled very clearly that our congregations are able to rely on the Virginia Division Statute in order to keep our church property."
"We have maintained all along that our churches’ own trustees hold title for the benefit of their congregations. [The Episcopal Church] and the Diocese have never owned any of the properties and their names do not appear on deeds to the property,” said Jim Oakes, vice-chairman of the Anglican District of Virginia.
The Episcopal Diocese says it is still exploring its additional legal options.
"While we are disappointed in today’s ruling, we are committed to exploring every option available to restore constitutional and legal protections for all churches in Virginia," the Episcopal Diocese said in its own statement. "Meanwhile, we look ahead to the October trial and the issues to be considered in the fall."
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