Diocese of Virginia Files Suit Against Departing Congregations
01/31/2007

The Diocese of Virginia has filed suit in various legal jurisdictions regarding real and personal property claims made by 11 congregations where the majority of the membership recently voted to leave The Episcopal Church.

The 11 new complaints seeking court action with respect to the real and personal property now held by the 11 congregations were preceded by legal filings last week in which the diocese objected to any transfer of property, citing both Virginia law and the canons of the diocese and the General Convention.

Following the votes to separate, eight of the congregations initiated proceedings in their respective local circuit courts in an effort to transfer ownership of their real properties away from the diocese and The Episcopal Church and to the Church of Nigeria through a missionary endeavor, the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA).

The clergy in charge and lay leadership of each of the 11 congregations have been named as defendants in the actions. The diocese is not asking the courts to impose any personal liability on any of the individuals named defendants at this time. the rest

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