A state district judge has ordered Fort Worth Bishop Jack Iker and a conservative, breakaway group of Episcopalians to surrender all diocesan property to the national church.
The Episcopal Church filed a lawsuit seeking to regain control of church property from the 24-county Diocese of Fort Worth in April 2009.
The Iker-led group, which split from the national church over issues including gay clergy and women in the priesthood, voted in 2008 to join a more conservative province of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
The Episcopal Church maintained in the suit that its rules prohibit dioceses from breaking away and that church properties are held in trust for the denomination, and the court ruled in its favor.
Iker's group plans an appeal.
At stake are who has control over 55 parishes and missions, a camp, diocesan offices in Fort Worth and several Episcopal schools and other properties.
Katie Sherrod, spokeswoman for the group loyal to the national church, said she did not have a monetary value for the properties "but obviously it will add up to a substantial amount."
After breaking away, Iker's group released property to a few churches where most members voted to stay with the national denomination.
But his group held onto other property that had belonged to the diocese.
The ruling, issued Friday by state District Judge John Chupp, states that in the event of a property dispute involving members of a hierarchical church, the members who are loyal to the church remain entitled to use and control of the property.
The court ordered the Iker-led group to surrender all property to members loyal to the national church within 60 days. The court also ordered the Iker-led to group "not to hold themselves out as leaders of the diocese."
The conservative group says in a written statement under the heading "The Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth" that the judge's decision is a disappointment but not a disaster."We are obviously disappointed by Judge Chupp's ruling and see it as fundamentally flawed. We are confident that the Court of Appeals will carefully consider our appeal and will rule in accordance to neutral principles of law as practiced in the State of Texas," Iker said.
"In the meantime, we will continue to focus on mission and outreach in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, while praying for the judges who will take up our appeal."
Wallis Ohl, provisional bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, which remained loyal to the national church, said congregations will not be forced to leave the churches as a result of the judge's ruling.
In a pastoral letter read Sunday, Ohl said he hopes that a healing process will lead to most deciding to stay in their church homes when the buildings are reclaimed by those who favor the national church.
"Certainly we can take heart that our position has been validated by the court, but this process has been painful for both sides and there is no room for triumphalism," he said.
"My hope is that we will together reach out in love to our sisters and brothers who have been separated from us."
In a Fort Worth diocesan convention in 2008, most of the delegates under Iker's leadership voted to leave the national church.
The division was related to the 2003 consecration of the first openly gay Episcopal bishop and ordination of women to the priesthood. Though the group became aligned with the Southern Cone of the worldwide Anglican Communion, Iker maintained he was still bishop of the Diocese of Fort Worth and that the group still held possession of diocesan property.
Chupp heard arguments in the case earlier this month and granted a summary judgment in favor of the group headed by Ohl on Friday.
The 2.3 million-member Episcopal church is the U.S. branch of the Anglican Communion, a 77 million-member communion that is the third-largest group of churches worldwide, behind the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian churches.
SIC: HC/USA
No comments:
Post a Comment