Episcopal diocese ready for appeal in property dispute
By Gregg MacDonald
Virginia's attorney general is weighing in on the ongoing property dispute between the Episcopal Church and area churches that broke away from the Diocese of Virginia.
Attorney General Bob McDonnell filed a brief along with a motion in the ongoing litigation that is being heard by Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Randy Bellows.
The case involves 11 congregations that separated from the Episcopal Church in late 2006 and 2007 and joined the Anglican District of Virginia. Truro Episcopal Church in Fairfax and Oak Hill's The Church of the Epiphany are among the properties involved in litigation.
In his brief, McDonnell defended the constitutionality of the Virginia Division Statute (Virginia Code § 57-9), stating that, “As a matter of federal constitutional law, the Episcopal Church is simply wrong. The Constitution does not require that local church property disputes be resolved by deferring to national and regional church leaders.”
“The attorney general's opinion comes as no surprise,” said The Rev. Chris Cunningham, an elected member of the Executive Board of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia. “It is his job to defend the constitutionality of Virginia statutes. He understandably wants to take a very hard line in upholding his staff's view that neutral principles of law should take precedence over the rules of the organization.”
“The attorney general’s brief validates the position of our parishes and directly refutes arguments that were made by the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia following the November trial,” said Jim Oakes, vice chairman of ADV in a release.
Cunningham likened the situation to a Boy Scout troop leaving its national organization.
“The two ways of that happening are that they follow the rules of the organization or they follow neutral principles of law,” he said. “And we knew that argument was going to come up."
Tucker Martin, a spokesman for McDonnell, said that the motion to intervene would be immediately withdrawn if the diocese withdraws its constitutional argument.
Cunningham said the diocese has spent “in the neighborhood of $1 million” and has also taken out an “up to $2 million” line of credit to further fund litigation should it become necessary.
“We are paying that back with income from investment funds, not from people's pledges,” he added. “We will use investment income rather than current donations to get our properties back.”
Despite the prospect of more legal fees, Cunningham says “we can't afford not to appeal” should Bellows' ruling, which is expected at any time now, be in favor of ADV.
“We are not trying to justify the legal expenses based purely on an economic framework,” Cunningham said. “There are a lot of historical and emotional issues at play here. But right now people on the executive board and the bishops and the staff are all saying, 'You know, that's a pretty decent investment, a $2 million line of credit – should we have to use all that – that's pretty good to recover $50 million worth of property.'”