Today the Texas Supreme Court handed down decisions in the two ECUSA cases pending before it: No. 11-0265, Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, et al. v. The Episcopal Church, et al.; and No. 11-0332, Masterson v. Diocese of Northwest Texas. In the first case, the Court sided with Bishop Iker’s Diocese by a closely split vote of 5-4, reversed the summary judgment of Circuit Judge John Chupp which had awarded all of the property and assets of Bishop Iker’s Diocese to the Episcopal Church and its rump diocese, and sent the case back to the trial court. The majority held that the trial court had improperly failed to apply a “neutral principles of law” analysis to the issues. The four dissenters did not disagree with that result, but instead believed that the Court lacked jurisdiction to hear a direct appeal from the trial court’s judgment in the case.
In the second case, the Court by a vote of 7-2 reversed the Court of Appeals’ decision requiring the Church of the Good Shepherd in San Angelo to turn over its building and all other assets to the Diocese of Northwest Texas. The Court definitively ruled that all Texas courts must follow “neutral principles of law” (rather than deferring to an ecclesiastical hierarchy), and that based on such an analysis, the Dennis Canon was not effective under Texas law (or that if it were effective to create a trust, the trust was not expressly irrevocable, and so could be revoked by the parish in question).
Read it all and note you can read the full Supreme Court decision opinion in the Fort Worth case here and in the Good Shepherd case here – other documents and concurring/dissenting opinions may be found here
Update: Pastoral Letter from Bishop Iker is here
I thought this was a death blow for Dennis Canon:
See TEX. PROP. CODE § 112.051 (“A settlor may revoke the trust unless it is irrevocable by the
express terms of the instrument creating it or of an instrument modifying it.â€).
Yes. It does seem the Dennis Canon is worthless in the eyes of Texas Law.
As is the state of Texas, this decision is big. It puts a strong national spotlight on the correctness of application of neutral principles of law and the weaknesses of giving legal effect to devices such as the Dennis Canon, an artifice essentially conceived and birthed by a would-be beneficiary of a so-called “trust” of church properties. “Dennis” is basically a little too slick for television, and it’s clearly regrettable that this device has had the effect that it’s had in some instances. Praise the Lord for the encouragement the result of this decision may bring to many churches of many faiths.
This has implications not just for Ft. Worth, but for all the Episcopal Churches in Texas — aren’t there 6 dioceses? I am reasonably satisfied that there are many Texas Episcopalians who are upset with the actions of TEC over the past 10 years, and now they have a blueprint for possible action. This has to send shivers down some episcopal spines. And what about the Presbyterians and Lutherans?
TX, W-TX, Dallas, Ft-W, NW-TX, and TX parts of Rio Grande. The Dennis Canon is exposed by trust law in TX.
Well, it’s been worth the long wait. Finally. TEC should never have messed with Texas. Thanks be to God.
Along with the similar ruling by the SC Supreme Court in the All Saints, Pawley’s Island case, this big victory for our side is also important because it helps set up a reason for the US Supreme Court to weigh in on the matter, since different state high courts have ruled in different ways, creating confusion and the need for SCOTUS to adjudicate the matter.
And it so happens that the Falls Church in northern VA has recently made (or is perhaps about to make) an appeal to SCOTUS that could provide such an opportunity for them to act.
David Handy+
This is great news indeed, and I wonder if it could hold further implications for the results of other such TEC-instigated lawsuits now pending in other states? Our own case is to be heard January 6th in Fresno.
P.S. Dr. Seitz,
All of us contending for the cause of orthodoxy in Anglicanism, whether inside or outside of TEC, owe you and your partners in the ACI, and the brave bishops who signed that amicus brief in the Texas case, a deep debt. Thank you so much for your courage and persistence in the fight.
David Handy+
Thanks, David. No point allowing a new TEC to be invented without a fight from TEC status quo ante.
In general terms, our ACI work has at least had the effect of alerting judges that their inherited categories of ‘hierarchy’ and ‘congregational’ need 15 flavors and not 2. I was particularly gratified that the Dennis Canon was so routinely dismissed as not up to standard irrevocable trust language.
Quincy may also give an opinion soon. We are expert testimony in that case. If anyone wants to make a donation, we are not asking the $1 Million Bruce Mullin has been paid! (that was disclosed at trial.)
There is an easy Paypal way to donate to the ACI right on the website home page:
http://www.anglicancommunioninstitute.com
I assume that you can mail checks at the mailing address listed on their website:
Anglican Communion Institute, Inc.
P.O. Box 7544
Beaumont, TX 77726
It does appear that SCOTUS may become involved with some clarification re these types of property disputes and, ultimately, the group of religious denominations classified as “hierarchical” may pretty be composed of the RC Church and Eastern Orthodox Churches. It seems to me that according treatment in law as a hierarchical denomination to a denomination (i.e., TEC) whose structure isn’t hierarchical at all levels of that denomination conflicts with free exercise of religion, regardless of the fact that a particular religious denomination may be hierarchical at a specific level. Perhaps the majority opinion in Masterson reflects this view.
Thank you, Sarah 1. God bless.