Constitution argued in Episcopal case

Julia Duin
Thursday, May 29, 2008

Lawyers for the Episcopal Church and a group of dissident congregations that split off to form a new denomination tangled in court yesterday over the constitutionality of a 141-year-old Virginia law that deals with the disposal of church property.

At issue is the Civil War-era "division statute" that says if a division occurs in a denomination, a congregation or a group of congregations, by majority vote of their members, may break away while retaining church property.

The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia is suing 11 conservative congregations in Northern Virginia that left 18 months ago over issues of biblical authority and the 2003 consecration of an openly gay Episcopal bishop. the rest