Governance news posted Thursday, January 29, 2009
Statement Concerning Property in the Episcopal Church
Many may have seen articles and heard news reports concerning those who have chosen to break away from the Episcopal Church and have questions about the status of the properties of those parishes. The following is being provided to help explain some of these issues.
The Episcopal Church is hierarchical, which means that each parish and Diocese is subject to the authority above it. All parts of the Episcopal Church are ultimately subject to the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church; each parish is subject, in addition, to the Diocesan Constitution and Canons. Within our hierarchy, each parish, usually in its Articles of Incorporation, provides unequivocally that it serves as a place to Worship God according to the Faith and Discipline of the Episcopal Church and that it accedes to the authority of the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of which it is a part.
Because of this, it is not important whether any particular parish holds property titled in its own name. Through its articles of incorporation, it promises to hold and use the property according to the rules of the Episcopal Church. One of those rules is that each parish holds its property in trust for the Episcopal Church and can only use it to benefit the Episcopal Church. Moreover, this rule exists not only in the national canons, but also has existed for many years in our Diocesan canons.
Those parishioners who, over the centuries, have founded and donated money to Episcopal parishes and built Episcopal churches have done so knowing that the parish articles of incorporation promise that it will always be used to Worship God according to the Faith and Discipline of the Episcopal Church. The expectation of those parishioners cannot be set aside because the current and temporary custodians of individual parish churches decide they no longer want to be Episcopalians, subject to the rules of the Church, and no longer want to honor the language of the parish’s own articles of incorporation and language that was in place, in most instances, decades before they started to worship at their parish.
Finally, we consider this a matter already decided by the internal rules of our Church—rules we all agreed to follow when we became part of the Episcopal Church, rules we agreed would govern our decisions if and when a particular rector or members decided they no longer wished to remain Episcopalian, and rules that we all understood would determine what happened to the physical assets purchased by a parish with charitable donations should most members of the congregation decide to worship under the rules of a different religion. However, our view is also a matter of secular law in Pennsylvania. When this matter was considered by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 2005, it held that, where an Episcopal parish agrees to be bound by the rules of the Episcopal Church, including the rule that it holds its property in trust for the benefit of the Episcopal Church, the secular courts will require that parish to honor its promise, even if that means that a rector and vestry who decide they would rather be part of another organized religion are required to choose between the parish assets and their desire to worship pursuant to the rules of a different religion.
In summary, the secular law and church law, each say that individuals which leave the Episcopal Church may not take with them assets held by their former parish in trust for the Episcopal Church. We all pray that these rules, which are well–established and clear, will be respected by those who have made the sad decision that they can no longer worship as Episcopalians.
The Standing Committee of the Diocese of Pennsylvania
Thursday, January 29, 2009
