TEC loses battle for Quincy

posted September 10, 2013
George Conger

An Illinois circuit court has rejected the national Episcopal Church’s claim that it is a “hierarchical church” under law, handing down a ruling that supports the Diocese of Quincy’s secession from the national church.

Details of the court's ruling have yet to be analyzed by Anglican Ink, but the Illinois ruling appears to have rejected the legal arguments brought by the national Episcopal Church in its litigation with departing dioceses and congregations -- upholding the neutral principles of law doctrine over deference to the denominational polity of the church.

The suit came On 7 Nov 2008 delegates to the diocesan synod meeting at St John’s Church in Quincy, Illinois, approved the second and final reading of a constitutional amendment withdrawing from the Episcopal Church. The vote was 41-14 in the clergy order and 54-12 by the laity. A second resolution affiliating the diocese with the Southern Cone pending the creation of a Third Province in North America was approved 46-4 in the clergy order and 55-8 in the lay order.

Attorneys for the national church in January 2009 wrote to the bank that manages the diocese’s endowment funds, stating that the breakaway diocese no longer had a claim on the funds and that its officers should not be permitted to disperse the funds. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori wrote the members of the Standing Committee in February informing them that she no longer “recognized” them as officers of the diocese.

The diocese responded by filing suit in March against the national church, seeking a declaratory judgment that it had the legal right to the name and assets of the diocese. The national church filed a counter claim against the officers of the diocese – which was without a bishop following the retirement of the Rt. Rev. Keith Ackerman – and sought a summary judgment against the diocese and its leaders. It argued that a rump group within the diocese that remained loyal to the national church was the true diocese, and the court should give precedence to the denomination’s leadership in resolving the dispute. Full Story

A.S. Haley:Decision in Quincy: ECUSA Has no Rule against Dioceses Withdrawing
We have a decision from the trial court in Quincy: Adams County Circuit Court Judge Thomas J. Ortbal entered on September 9, 2013 his Findings, Opinion and Order following a bench trial that stretched over three weeks last April and May. The opinion is about as thorough an analysis as we have to date of the "hierarchical" polity of ECUSA when it comes to matters involving its member dioceses. The judge's key finding is this (pp.12-14):

DOQ [The Anglican Diocese of Quincy] persuasively argues that when examining TEC's Constitution and Canons from a secular perspective, they are far from clear or evident, as to identifying the highest court or judicatory having authority over the diocese. There is no explicit provision in TEC's Constitution or Canons specifying the office or body having supremacy or ultimate authority over the acknowledged Ecclesiastical Authority of a Diocese, i.e., a Bishop or a Standing Committee in the absence of the Bishop.

There is no provision in TEC's Constitution or Canons which require prior approval of a diocesan constitution or its canons. There is no express prohibition against withdrawal of a diocese. In sum, reviewing the governing documents from a secular perspective, there is no explicit or clearly delineated expression of TEC 's claim that the General Convention is the ultimate authority or judicatory of the Church...

Properties in Hand, Episcopalians Turn Over Sanctuaries to… Evangelicals?
Three developments this summer are worth noting in regards to ongoing property litigation in the Episcopal Church. First, a previous court ruling in Texas awarding properties in the Diocese of Fort Worth to the Episcopal Church was overturned by the Texas Supreme Court. The case, now remanded back to district court, will be determined over neutral principles of law rather than deferring to the church’s internal Dennis Canon. IRD’s Brian Miller covered that development here.

Secondly, the Episcopal Church’s effort to move a property dispute with the departing Diocese of South Carolina into the federal courts was rejected, and the case will now play out in the State courts, where there is precedent for departing congregations to retain properties.

Lastly, the Falls Church (Anglican) in Virginia announced that it will seek a hearing before the U.S. Supreme Court over ownership of property awarded to the Episcopal Church last year. A ruling is also anticipated in the Diocese of Quincy (Illinois) later this month. [Update: the Illinois Circuit Court has issued a ruling this morning that favors the Quincy Diocese. Anglican Ink has coverage here.]

I am occasionally asked what has happened to properties in Northern Virginia that have been turned over to the Episcopal Church. The answer might come as a surprise. In two instances, the properties are being used, at least in part, by churches that hold a high view of scripture and teach a traditionalist interpretation of the Bible....