CNY Episcopal Diocese Tries to Seize Trust Funds of the Church of the Good Shepherd

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 19, 2009
Contact: Raymond J. Dague
315-422-2052
www.daguelaw.com

After taking the church buildings from Church of the Good Shepherd, the Central New York Episcopal Diocese on Friday will seek to also take money left to the parish in a will. The Diocese is apparently not content with the seizure of the church building, rectory and tangible property of Church of the Good Shepherd: they also want the money left in trust to the parish in the will of a former member who died in 1986. Since the courts usually seek to apply the intent of the maker of the will, the issues in this part of the case may be significantly different from the Dennis Canon argument which allowed the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York to seize the property of the parish in January pursuant to a lawsuit and court decision.

The parish filed motion papers seeking the dismissal of the will portion of the lawsuit, and the Diocese and the alternative beneficiary under the will, Christ Episcopal Church in Binghamton, filed cross-motion papers to take the monies in the trust. The motion argument is scheduled for 11:00 am Friday, March 20, 2009 at the courthouse in downtown Binghamton before Judge Ferris Lebous. Judge Lebous is same judge who issued the first ruling which gave the buildings to the Diocese.

Syracuse attorney Raymond Dague is defending Good Shepherd. “The will says that the parish gets the money in the trust unless the parish “ceases to exist,” and since they are still alive and well, they still get the trust,” said Dague. “It is that simple.”

The Diocese and Christ Church claim that Good Shepherd’s disaffiliation from the Episcopal Church means that Good Shepherd “ceases to exist.” The Diocese also claims that because Good Shepherd is in a new building and because the old parish bank account did not have any deposits for many months before the January 8, 2009 seizure order of Judge Lebous, that Good Shepherd “ceases to exist.”

In an affidavit filed by the priest at the parish, Fr. Matt Kennedy, he repeatedly declared that his church exists. “It is not the building or amount of money people donate to a particular corporation which gives our church its existence,” said Fr. Kennedy in his affidavit. “It is a tragic and telling commentary on the bareness of the theology of the Diocese of Central New York that the possession of a building or the level of contributions to a certain corporate bank account is the measure of whether a church ‘exists’.”

Bishop Gladstone “Skip” Adams of Syracuse sued the Binghamton church last spring after that parish disaffiliated from the Episcopal Church. Fr. Kennedy is a commentator on the internationally known Stand Firm website. Good Shepherd recently moved to a location at a former Roman Catholic Church in Binghamton just over a mile from its old building, and has been increasing its Sunday attendance since it moved into the new church building.

Do they exist?