Virginia: Phase 1 of Church Property Trial Ends, 1st Amendment Issues Next

Written by Nicholas F. Benton and Roy Levy
Thursday, 22 November 2007

Phase One of a three-phase legal process to determine ownership of the property of 11 Virginia congregations that voted to leave the Episcopal Church – including The Falls Church – ended abruptly in a Fairfax circuit courtroom Tuesday. Constitutionality arguments, pertaining to the First Amendment and the separation of church and state, are up next.

Bishop Peter James Lee of the Diocese of Virginia, who was expected to be a major witness in defense of the Episcopal Church, was on the witness stand less than five minutes, as attorneys for the diocese apparently moved to shield him from cross-examination by dismissing him from the stand before making any substantial statements.

That marked an end to five days of testimony before Judge Randy I. Bellows aimed at establishing whether or not an 1867 Virginia statute applies to the circumstances that occurred last December, when the majority of parishioners from 11 Episcopal congregations in Virginia voted to defect from the mainstream denomination.

Their claim, reiterated in a press release issued yesterday by those congregations’ new “Council of Anglicans in North America” (CANA) affiliation, was not that the defectors left the church, but that “the Episcopal Church and the diocese walked away from the worldwide Anglican Communication by choosing to reinterpret scripture.” In particular, the so-called “reinterpretation” claim is centered on the move by bishops of the Episcopal Church to elevate an openly-gay clergyman to standing as a bishop in 2003. the rest

Washington Times: Episcopal trial weighs concept of division