The Church of the Good Shepherd filed motion papers today seeking the dismissal of the lawsuit brought by the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York against the 100 member parish in Binghamton, New York. The motion to dismiss and for summary judgement by the parish was based on the lack of proper adoption of the Dennis Canon by the Episcopal Church. The Diocese previously served a motion against the parish for summary judgment based largely on the Dennis Canon. Both motions are scheduled for oral argument at 9:30 am Friday, December 12, 2008 at the courthouse in downtown Binghamton. Judge Ferris Lebous could issue an immediate ruling, but a written reserved decision from the judge sometime early next year is also possible.<\/p>\n
Syracuse attorney Raymond Dague is defending Good Shepherd. The diocesan motion papers were notable for their great bulk, commented the attorney. \u201cThe 9″ tall stack of motion papers they served against the parish was too big for an envelope,\u201d\u009d said Dague. \u201cA messenger dropped it off at my office in a box.\u201d\u009d Today\u2019s more modest filing by the parish claims that the Dennis Canon was not adopted by the 1979 General Convention, and hence the Diocese has no basis for their lawsuit. \u201cDespite that enormous pile of papers, they just assume that the Dennis Canon is the law of the church, but don\u2019t bother in a single sentence to argue that it was properly adopted,\u201d\u009d said Dague. \u201cWe are going to call them on that. Since the Dennis Canon is the basis of the lawsuit to take away the church building, the judge will need to address this issue one way or the other.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
Dague\u2019s legal papers claim that the Episcopal Church\u2019s own documents and archives show that the Dennis Canon was not adopted.<\/p>\n