Irondequoit church, Episcopal diocese clash in state court over property

Jay Gallagher • Albany Bureau Chief
September 10, 2008

ALBANY — Lawyers for an Anglican church in Irondequoit and for the Episcopal diocese of Rochester differed before the state's highest court Tuesday on whether an agreement made between the two parties carries the force of law in New York.

Nineteen years ago, All Saints Church signed a document that placed all of its property in trust for the diocese and the national church. The church has since separated from the national church because it disagreed with the ordination of a gay bishop.

Eugene VanVoorhis, a lawyer for All Saints, said the church doesn't want to turn its property over to the diocese. "Ecclesiastical documents are not property documents," he said in an argument before the state Court of Appeals.

But the lawyer for the diocese, Thomas Smith, pointed to a 1979 document signed by the church that said all of its property was held in trust for the diocese and the national church. the rest