“In God the Lord whose word I praise,
In God I trust and will not be afraid.” (Ps. 56:10)Dear Church family,
I received a call at 7am this morning from Eric Sohlgren, our attorney, notifying me that our petition to the US Supreme Court has been denied. The court does not give reasons for its denials.
This is well and truly the end of the legal road for us and I know some of you are disappointed that we will never recover our property and that this kind of injustice will continue in other legal battles across the country. We especially think of our sister churches, St. David’s, All Saints and St. James and the road before them. Do keep them and other sister churches further afield in your prayers.
I know others of you are relieved that the legal wrangling is over and we can be about the work of the Gospel unhindered. Or you may be feeling a mixture of both disappointment and relief, as am I. Where ever you are, know that we will continue to walk forward together and that our Lord is with us.The other question that rises is what was that all about? I am not sure that is a helpful question. Rather, we need to remember why we did what we did as we continue to trust God with the outcome. So let me remind everyone the main reason we felt compelled to appeal. It was for the sake of our sister churches so that they wouldn’t have to experience the pain and loss of being evicted from dear and memory filled houses of worship. So that they would not suffer the same injustice that we have suffered at the hands of false shepherds in the leadership of the Episcopal Church. By the way, I say that without bitterness or anger. It is simply a fact. May the Lord have mercy upon them.
So remembering why we did what we did, and remembering that the vast majority of our legal costs have been funded as though manna from heaven, we are to rest in God’s good purposes for us. He will continue to prove himself to be utterly faithful.
Finally, I want to leave you with the psalm verse that spoke peace to me in my evening devotions last night:
“In God the Lord whose word I praise,
In God I trust and will not be afraid.” (Ps. 56:10)You may find it helpful to continue to pray this until is settles deeply in your heart.
So ”˜forgetting what lies behind”¦ [let us] press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called [us] heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 3:13-14
–(The Rev.) Rob Holman is rector, St. Luke’s Anglican Church La Crescenta, California
The ‘Episopalians’ who ‘won’ this lawsuit should hang their heads in shame.
Ooops. I meant ‘Episcopalians’ and not ‘Episopalians.’
“Episcopagans”
Better to worship in strip mall w/ folding chairs but in Spirit and in Truth than in an ornate cathedral w/o the Faith once delivered. Painful to lose the reminders of the company of the faithful departed, but be assured, they will go with you.
The people who should hang their heads in shame are the defendants who lost the court case. They knew when they left the church neither the canons nor the law was on their side. Yet they chose to attempt to keep the church property and go through litigation. When we point an accusing finger at TEC and its dioceses for using the churches money to bring lawsuits to protect its property, let us remember the churches who are trying it illegally take church property as the cause of the lawsuits. If they feel called to fulfill the gospel outside TEC, then they should follow that calling; however, they can’t take the property.
Now see, Heath, you’ve beautifully illustrated the two mutually opposing and antithetical worldviews held by the liberals and conservatives.
I — as a conservative Episcopalian — think that the Episcopalians who have stolen the property of the Leavers have committed shameful acts. You think not.
That’s understandable — we don’t share the same gospel.
Shameful for one is proud for the other. Good for one is bad for the other. Love for one is hate for the other. Corrupt for one is pure for the other.
And so on and so on.
Two gospels, in one organization will yield much conflict for many years to come. That’s our TEC.
Heath, I agree with Sarah. However your comment that
“let us remember the churches who are trying it illegally take church property as the cause of the lawsuits. ” That shows how little you know about the history of these lawsuits. Many of these lawsuits have been filed by TEC dioceses against the parish/diocese who is “leaving” or “left” yet these people simply want to remain where they have been years,decades or even centuries.
You need to realize while TEC tries to make this about church hierachy and all that, it is really about title to property. That is why the Supreme Court in SC had the good sense to realize that TEC’s “Denis Canon” was basically a legal fiction. How can people who are trying defend their title to property be the subject of such legal harassment ? It just makes no sense.
No. 7. It’s awkward to leave and to stay simultaneously. Heath is correct that all these lawsuits are reactions to people who are fed up with the Episcopal Church and want nothing more to do with it, but who are not prepared to observe the predictable, ordinary, and logical consequences of a decision to leave. How do I lose my ability to worship in church where I have worshipped for “years, decades, or even centuries”, to use your phrase (although for me it isn’t centuries yet – most of the people I know who were born sufficiently long ago to have worshipped anyplace for centuries are not engaged directly in the current controversies that are driving these property disputes), simply because a bunch of people decide to depart. Between them and me (and those who, like me, elect to stay) does it not make more sense that we would continue to worship where we have worshipped for years, than for those who leave to turn us out?
A great many dedicated and able Christians have left the Church. They have the resources and skills to establish wonderful new churches whose worship and leadership are more to their liking. It compromises them greatly, and diminishes and distracts from their witness, for them embroil those who remain in litigation and to place so much emphasis on controlling property.
RE: “It’s awkward to leave and to stay simultaneously.”
Right — but as keeping one’s property is not “staying” anyway, then the above is just an irrelevant statement anyway.
RE: “Heath is correct that all these lawsuits are reactions to people who are fed up with the Episcopal Church and want nothing more to do with it, but who are not prepared to observe the predictable, ordinary, and logical consequences of a decision to leave.”
The “predictable, ordinary, and logical consequences” of leaving is not somebody else stealing your property.
RE: “It compromises them greatly, and diminishes and distracts from their witness, for them embroil those who remain in litigation and to place so much emphasis on controlling property.”
On the contrary, it is an excellent witness to fight for one’s property in the proper adjudicating body, and it is a good witness to win the fight, and not allow an organization to use one’s property to ape the Christian religion and lure the ignorant seeker in under false pretenses, and it is a good witness to be evicted from one’s property and for the country to see the nasty vicious thievery of 815 and diocesan bishops.
Either way an excellent witness for the leavers has been maintained, and either way good results have been obtained also as far as the reputation of 815 and TEC bishops.
It’s all good, and I heartily applaud rectors, vestries, and congregants who choose to undertake such witnesses.
Sarah – what is the principle of ownership that distinguishes between those who leave and those who stay?