Diocese of Virginia Refocuses Legal Efforts

September 23, 2008

The Diocese of Virginia will forgo judicial review of the process used by 11 congregations which voted to leave The Episcopal Church in January 2007. Instead it will focus all of its efforts on overturning a Civil War-era state statute known as 57-9.

In a series of motions prior to the one-day trial on Oct. 6, Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Randy Bellows already has ruled that 57-9 is both constitutional and applicable in this case. The statute states that in the event of a denominational split, a local congregation can determine what to do with church property.

However, anomalies in the deeds of some parish charters may have implications, most notably in the case of the Falls Church, whose original deed from 1749 confers ownership to all nearby colonial residents. If the court rules against the majority of the congregation at the Falls Church, it would permit the diocese to file additional lawsuits over questions of ownership. the rest