The Diocese of Ohio recently filed a declaratory judgment with the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas in Cleveland, asking that it, the diocesan trustees, and a minority of members at five dissident congregations be declared the rightful owners of church properties where the congregations voted overwhelmingly to leave in 2005.
The March 26 filing came just a month after an article in the Akron Beacon Journal described how the relationship between the five dissenting congregations and the diocese was an exception to the personal acrimony and litigation prevalent throughout many other dioceses of The Episcopal Church. In another break with standard practice in most other dioceses, Bishop Mark Hollingsworth, Jr., of Ohio did not depose the clergy when they requested transfer of their canonical license to the Anglican Church of Nigeria.
In the Beacon Journal article, Martha Wright, communications officer for the Diocese of Ohio, had said, “We are looking for a faithful resolution to the property issue involving the congregations that have elected to leave the diocese. The priests in those congregations have asked to be released from their orders and their requests have been granted, but we have not taken any action where property is concerned.”
Ms. Wright told The Living Church she was not aware in February of any plans to file legal papers at the time of her interview with the Beacon Journal. But she denied that the decision to pursue litigation at this time represents a new approach in dealing with the five congregations.
In the article, the Presiding Bishop’s spokesperson was asked if she had pressured the Diocese of Ohio to litigate. The response was that the Presiding Bishop rarely discusses private conversations with bishops with her senior staff, let alone with journalists. Again, the point is missed. She doesn’t have to detail her conversations with Hollingsworth, merely state whether the impulse for this move comes from him or her.
Everyone, especially those who have no intention of leaving TEC, need to know – from a stewardship perspective – whether such proceedings originate at the center or in the localities, especially since the center appears to expect the unlucky dioceses to bear the costs. I imagine that Bishop Lee is presently feeling the grim satisfaction of being right, even while trying to work out what programs he may have to cut if the rest of the case goes against him.
Schoria Law strikes again!
AHA! Another shining example of the way TEC deals with faithful Anglican Christian dissidents! Chalk up another reason for leaving.
Next?
The “peaceful coexistence” is merely the calm before the inevitable storm, a [i]hudna[/i], the aftermath of an ecclesiastical Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact signing. For anyone not in lockstep with 815’s latest [i]weltanschauung[/i], the “listening process” now consists entirely of listening to the whip lashing across your orthodox bretherens’ backs.
A prayer for mercy for us all.