Tonight, the Fairfax Circuit Court issued its ruling in favor of the Diocese of Virginia and the Episcopal Church in litigation seeking to recover Episcopal church property. “Our goal throughout this litigation has been to return faithful Episcopalians to their church homes and Episcopal properties to the mission of the Church,” said the Rt. Rev. Shannon S. Johnston, bishop of Virginia.
The court ruled that the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia have “a contractual and proprietary interest” in each of the properties subject to the litigation. The court ordered that all property subject to its ruling be turned over to the Diocese.
“We hope that this ruling will lead to our congregations returning to worship in their church homes in the near future, while finding a way to support the CANA congregations as they plan their transition,” said Henry D.W. Burt, secretary of the Diocese and chief of staff.
Bishop Johnston added, “While we are grateful for the decision in our favor, we remain mindful of the toll this litigation has taken on all parties involved, and we continue to pray for all affected by the litigation.”
The Diocese of Virginia will now begin to enjoy the bitter fruit of its ‘scorched earth’ victory.
The diocese has gained some choice pieces of real estate in Northern Virginia and it has alienated from itself those Anglicans who truly adhere to “…the Faith once given….”
The leadership of the diocese must realize that they will be held in eternal judgement for what they are so eagerly doing to the Anglican Christians within the boundaries of their diocese.
As a former congregant of Truro Church, Fairfax, Virginia, I am now shaking the dust off my feet and am turning my back forever on the Diocese of Virginia.
It is not a pleasant act for me, but I prefer to not associate with heretical revisionists who are and have been fueling the fires of schism rather than seeking true reconciliation in Virginia.
One sad and under-appreciated facet to this decision will be the collateral damage among parties who had no part in or likely even awareness of the litigation: children in the preschools and kindergartens (many if not most from outside the congregations); the homeless fed and ministered to, just to name a few. Pray that the Diocese of Virginia has the courtesy to provide for orderly transition if not continuation here, too.
You’re right, AnglicanFirst. The ire and enmity and division between those who believe the Gospel and those who do not — even within TEC — just grows broader and deeper by the month and by the year.
They’ll reap the consequences of their evil, even within our denomination. I’d far rather work with Jews, Muslims, and Buddhists than with the heretical leaders of my church, and that, multiplied by thousands, has huge long-term consequences.
Well, at least they won’t get to keep the kids’ Sunday School crayons!
No. 2, those activities preceded the occupation. There is no reason to believe they will not continue after it has ended. The statements from the Episcopal Diocese have been conciliatory and have expressly committed it to a patient and supportive transition process.
NoVA Scout (#5.) said,
“No. 2, those activities preceded the occupation.”
What occupation?
The great majority of the departed congregations voted to avoid heresy and to disassociate themselves from a diocese that is in the hands of revisionists who have usurped the “…the Faith ocnce given…” and the traditions of the disassociating congregations.
The revisionists will face “final judgement’ for what they are doing but they don’t believe in that anyhow.
Their substitutes for Scripture and tradition are the the rationales of “if it feels good, it must be good” and “whatever advances the revisionist cause is good and whatever opposes the cause is bad.”
The revisionist clergy should mremember the Scriptural admonitions regarding what will happen to clergy who lead the laity and other clergy astray. But they believe in a mutable Scripture that can be molded to meet the secular needs and sins of the times.
No. 6. The occupation I referred to followed a decision in late 2006 by a number of parishioners in several parishes in Northern Virginia to reaffiliate with a Nigerian mission outreach. They decided to leave the Diocese of Virginia and the Episcopal Church, but, despite that decision, remained in the property to the exclusion of Episcopalians who did not, at that time at least, choose to depart. The Episcopalians had to find other worship places and have been unable to use the facilities for Epsicopalian worship for more than five years now. The court decision of earlier this week was clear that the properties would have to be returned.
As far as I know, there were no “revisionists” in the Episcopal contingent. It tended to be a somewhat older, conservative group, although since its exile, a number of wonderful younger families have joined. I suspect that we all will face a final judgement, even those of us, like you and I, who do not consider ourselves “revisionists.” I have met no clergy in my diocese who resemble the ones you describe in your last paragraph. No doubt such people exist, but I do not think they are numerous or much in evidence in my neck of the woods.