Falls Church Anglican Seeks Rehearing After Losing Property Suit to Episcopal Church

By Michael Gryboski
May 16, 2013

An Anglican congregation in Virginia that recently lost a property suit against The Episcopal Church is asking for a rehearing before the state Supreme Court.

George Ward, senior warden of the vestry of The Falls Church Anglican, told The Christian Post that the congregation will submit a petition that may be heard by the Court.

"Our attorneys looked carefully at the opinion and they briefed our vestry on it, and the attorneys highlighted for us that the opinion is based at least in part on arguments that really had not been raised in the seven years of litigation," said Ward. "Since they had not been raised, we have not been able to either brief them or argue them before the Court. And so, by putting in a petition for a rehearing, that would enable us to argue those issues." the rest

A.S. Haley: Confusion (among Amateur Canonists) about California Ruling
Now comes a task I would rather not face, given that I count many non-canon lawyers who are bloggers on Episcopal matters at least as colleagues, if not as personal friends. But in the wake of my commentary on the recent St. James ruling, a host of lay would-be canonists have rushed in to assure everyone that the ruling is not as bad as it is, or that it does not really say what it says. The latest comes from the estimable Father Haller, but he and others have also been contributing to the comments on other blogs. (Note that no one has seen fit to come here and question me directly.)

Let's clear up one simple matter first: the ruling is not yet precedent for California courts, because it is only the decision of a single trial judge in Orange County, California. As I pointed out in my original post, it will become problematic only if it is affirmed upon appeal.  (But as I also pointed out in my post, all of the appeals taken thus far by St. James in this case were decided against them initially by the Court of Appeals.)

Next, let's wade into the legal realities. Forget all talk about "alienating parish property."  That never occurred in the St. James case.  Far from alienating any real property in 1991, St. James acquired it.  Those (like Fr. Haller) who cite Canon I.7.3 about needing the permission of the Standing Committee in addition to the permission of the diocesan bishop to waive the Dennis Canon upon the acquisition of property are barking up the wrong tree here. Unlike the Dennis Canon itself, that Canon simply does not apply to a parish's acquisition of property...

Anglican church in Turlock to close, open elsewhere
After years of fighting a lawsuit over its property, the parishioners of St. Francis Anglican Church in Turlock will close their doors for the final time Sunday and walk to a new beginning a few blocks away.

The 75 or so regular attendees will take almost nothing with them — not even membership and financial records of the past few years — and instead will start from scratch as Grace Anglican Church in rented space at another local church.

"At the end of the day, we walk away from all this with a great deal of peace in our hearts," said the Rev. Gerry Grossman, who has led St. Francis Anglican Church since 2008.

Why We Must Care: A Letter from the Desk of Bishop John Guernsey
The following letter by Bishop John Guernsey originally appeared on the website of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic of the Anglican Church of North America.

Dear Friends,

The murder trial of the Philadelphia abortionist, Dr. Kermit Gosnell, has been of great interest and deep concern to me. I wish I could say it had captured the attention of the nation, but, as you may know, it was largely ignored by the media. (The executive editor of the Washington Post said he hadn’t been aware of the story.) The trial was sickening, not because of the filth in the clinic, not because of the body parts of fetuses in jars, not because of the reprehensibly irresponsible medical care which caused the death of 41-year old Karnamaya Mongar of Woodbridge, VA. The trial wasn’t sickening because it showed something exceptional, but because it showed what abortion is and does.For many years, the pro-life movement has emphasized the link between abortion and infanticide. The ethic that defends the killing of babies in the womb so easily leads to justifying the killing of them a few minutes later and a few inches away, just outside the womb. But in recent months the support of infanticide in the pro-abortion movement has grown and become increasingly clear.

Peace Must Never Be Accepted On Boko Haram's Term–Anglican Primate Nicholas Okoh
Addressing the third session of the eight synod of the Anglican Church in Abuja, Most Reverend Okoh said it’s a pitfall that must be avoided by the committee because it would inadvertently create an Islamic state in the northern part of the country.

Most Reverend Okoh also added that a public discussion should have been held before the amnesty committee was set up...