Posted on 03/30/2006 2:43:49 PM PST by sionnsar
(March 30, 2006) - All Saints Anglican Church has filed suit claiming that the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester and its bishop the Rt. Rev. Jack McKelvey "abused their discretion and failed to follow their own rules and the law of the state of New York" in declaring the church extinct.
The Irondequoit parish, formerly known as All Saints Protestant Episcopal Church, was voted out of the diocese in November after it withheld $16,000 from the diocese. The parish held back the money because it disagreed with the larger body's support of the ordination of a gay bishop in New Hampshire in 2003. All churches in the diocese are expected to pass along some of their income to the diocese, so withholding the money was seen as breaking communion with the churches in the diocese.
The suit quotes portions of New York's Religious Corporations Law and claims that the November vote "is a legal nullity and has no effect on the Petitioner, the title to its property, or the status of its corporate existence."
The congregation has since joined the Church of the Province of Uganda, a separate church within the Anglican Communion. Like the Episcopal Church of the USA, it has roots in the Church of England.
Earlier this month, the Rochester diocese filed suit against the parish, saying that the property - including religious records - should be returned and the legal corporation of the parish should be dissolved.
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams.
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