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The mother of all lawsuits pitting Episcopalian against Anglican kicks off today in the red-brick confines of Fairfax County Circuit Court. The case has amassed numerous court filings involving 11 churches, two dozen lawyers, 107 individuals, the 90,000-member Diocese of Virginia, the 2.3 million-member Episcopal Church and the 18.5 million-member Anglican Province of Nigeria. The Episcopal Church and its Virginia Diocese are suing 11 churches, their clergy and lay leaders for leaving the diocese last winter in order to join the Nigerian province. Since the 2003 consecration of the openly homosexual New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson, conservatives have been...

(from the CANA website (www.canaconvocation.org )) Letter from The Most Revd. Peter J Akinola 2nd May, 2007 The Rt. Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Episcopal Church Center 815 Second Avenue New York, NY 10017, USA My dear Presiding Bishop: My attention has been drawn to your letter of April 30th ostensibly written to me but published on the Episcopal News Service website. In light of the concerns that you raise it might be helpful to be reminded of the actions and decisions that have led to our current predicament. At the emergency meeting of the Primates in October 2003 it was...

One of the things that makes Titusonenine the amazing blog that it is, is our amazing commenters. One of our Virginia readers, William Sulik, has compiled a great list of links with background and various legal precedents that may be of interest to those following the developing legal battle in the Diocese of Virginia. This is posted in the comments below, but at Kendall’s request, we’re highlighting it here on the main blog As mentioned yesterday, here is my “Compendium of Posts regarding the Law in Virginia.” ¶ Set forth below, is a collection of the most relevant posts, in...

The Diocese of Virginia has filed suit in various legal jurisdictions regarding real and personal property claims made by 11 congregations where the majority of the membership recently voted to leave The Episcopal Church. The 11 new complaints seeking court action with respect to the real and personal property now held by the 11 congregations were preceded by legal filings last week in which the diocese objected to any transfer of property, citing both Virginia law and the canons of the diocese and the General Convention. Following the votes to separate, eight of the congregations initiated proceedings in their respective...

The Episcopal Church, in consultation with the Diocese of Virginia, regrets the recent votes by members of some congregations in Virginia to leave this Church. We wish to be clear, however, that while individuals have the right and privilege to depart or return at any time, congregations do not. Congregations exist because they are in communion with the bishop of a diocese, through recognition by diocesan governing bodies (diocesan synods, councils, or conventions). Congregations cannot unilaterally disestablish themselves or remove themselves from a diocese. In addition, by canon law, property of all sorts held by parishes is held and must...

VA Churches Respond, Urge Return to Negotiating Table Anglican District of Virginia leaders urge Episcopal Bishop and Diocese to return to negotiating table FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jim Pierobon, 301-520-1758 FAIRFAX and FALLS CHURCH, Va, Jan. 19 - Two leaders of the Anglican District of Virginia today urged the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia and its bishop, the Rt. Rev. Peter James Lee, to cease both his divisive rhetoric and his march toward the courthouse and instead return to the negotiating table. "It is still not too late for Bishop Lee and the leaders of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia to...

January 18, 2007 Diocesan Leadership Declares Church Property ‘Abandoned’ For release: Thursday, January 18, 2007 Contact: Patrick Getlein 1-800-346-2373 x 30 Today, January 18, 2007, the Executive Board of the Diocese of Virginia took a step forward in preserving the mission and ministry of the Diocese and the Episcopal Church for current and future generations of Episcopalians and adopted a resolution concerning the property of 11 Episcopal Churches where a majority of members – including the vestry and clergy – have left The Episcopal Church but have not relinquished Church property and have continued to occupy the churches and use...

VirtueOnline is reporting that Truro Church in Fairfax, Virginia has been vandalized. Truro was one of several parishes that voted to break away from TEC last month to join CANA, a mission of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican). Picture below. See article for more pictures.

VirtueOnline reported last night that the Diocese of Virginia may be reneging on its protocol for departing congregations and may pursue litigation after Jan. 17, 2007 against The Falls Church, Truro Church, and other churches that voted to depart TEC and join CANA in December 2006 parish votes. The Diocese will not renew a thirty-day standstill on litigation or property transfers. The announcement followed a meeting between Diocesan leadership and David Booth Beers, chancellor of The Episcopal Church. TEC has indicated that it will intervene on behalf of the Diocese. From The Episcopal Church & The Diocese of Virginia: Jan....

As The Episcopal Church (TEC) finds itself cracking apart, the question on everybody's mind is: "Can departing churches keep their property?" The answer: It depends. Courts differ in how they handle church property disputes. State corporate laws governing property ownership, deeds, and trusts are far from uniform and may be subject to conflicting interpretations. So, as litigation looms, attorneys on all sides are busy researching case law and assembling briefs. Many denominations have clauses declaring that property owned by congregations is held in trust for the denomination: A church is free to leave, but not with its property. For many...

The New York Times: Episcopal Parishes in Virginia Vote to Secede. Reuters: Virginia churches break from U.S. Episcopal Church.The Washington Times: 8 Virginia flocks break away.The Richmond Times-Dispatch: Seven Va. Episcopal churches break away. Ruth Gledhill has comments on her blog here.An article in the Guardian is there.The Telegraph has an article here.A press release from the diocese of Virginia deserves to be quoted in full: News Update from the Diocese of Virginia Yesterday, Sunday, December 17, eight churches in the Diocese of Virginia announced that a majority of the voting members of the congregation had voted to separate from...

As The Episcopal Church (TEC) finds itself cracking apart, the question on everybody's mind is: "Can departing churches keep their property?" The answer: It depends. Courts differ in how they handle church property disputes. State corporate laws governing property ownership, deeds, and trusts are far from uniform and may be subject to conflicting interpretations. So, as litigation looms, attorneys on all sides are busy researching case law and assembling briefs. Many denominations have clauses declaring that property owned by congregations is held in trust for the denomination: A church is free to leave, but not with its property. For many...

December 17, 2006 A Statement from the Rt. Rev. Peter James Lee, Bishop of the Diocese of Virginia Today a small number of congregations in the Diocese of Virginia announced that they have voted to separate from the Episcopal Church and affiliate with the Church of Nigeria and Bishop Akinola. I am saddened by this development. The leadership of the Diocese of Virginia has labored for three years to seek another course that would have maintained the integrity of the church and the spirit of inclusiveness that has been a hallmark of the Diocese and the Anglican Communion. The votes...

The Falls Church and Truro Church in Northern Virginia announced the results of their week-long votes this afternoon: an "overwhelming" number (90% at The Falls Church and 92% at Truro) voted to sever ties to TEC and The Diocese of Virginia AND retain parish property. Excerpts from VirtueOnline coverage:"In packed parishes, with standing room only at both services, the two churches were told that they had voted overwhelmingly to leave, with Falls Church parishioners voting 90 percent to leave the denomination and a second vote of 97 percent to retain the church properties. The Rev. John Yates made the announcement...

"We are not living in a world where all roads are radii of a circle and where all, if followed long enough, will therefore draw gradually nearer and finally meet at the centre: rather, in a world where every road, after a few miles, forks into two, and each of those into two again, and at each fork you must make a decision." This is an opening line from The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis. Making decisions is hard for most of us. Sometimes we freeze when confronted with difficult choices especially when we recognize that the consequences will be...

Truro Episcopal Church, which once included George Washington among its vestrymen, and The Falls Church, two of the oldest Episcopal churches in Virginia and the country, have both decided that they've had enough: In a congregational meeting Sunday afternoon, Nov 12, the Vestry of Truro Church, Fairfax, announced to their parish that they unanimously recommend that Truro should sever its ties to The Episcopal Church (TEC) and remain as full members of the Anglican Communion by joining the Anglican District of Virginia Anglicans in the Convocation for Anglicans in North America (CANA). On the following Monday, Nov. 13, the Vestry...

Virginia Episcopal Bishop Peter J. Lee announced yesterday that he and the newly consecrated Anglican Bishop Martyn Minns have failed to reach an agreement on allowing the new bishop to minister in the Virginia diocese. Consecrated on Aug. 20 in Abuja, Nigeria, Bishop Minns continues to lead Truro Episcopal Church in Fairfax, one of several parishes considering leaving the diocese over the Episcopal Church's 2003 decision to consecrate the openly homosexual V. Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire. On Sept. 17, Truro starts a "40 Days of Discernment" process on whether to leave the diocese. Bishop Lee indicated in...

RICHMOND, VA: Virginia cleric to lead new Anglican group Assumption of bishop's post in Nigeria today could add to tensions in church BY SHAUN BISHOP TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Aug 20, 2006 Fairfax congregation could leave U.S. Episcopal Church A conservative Episcopal rector from Northern Virginia is in Nigeria today to assume leadership of a new organization that could complicate the already simmering tensions in the Episcopal Church. The U.S. church has faced a polarization among some of its 2.3 million members since the consecration of the Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson, an openly gay man, as bishop of the New Hampshire...

Two of Northern Virginia's largest and most historic Episcopal churches -- Truro and the Falls Church -- informed Virginia Bishop Peter J. Lee yesterday that they plan to leave the diocese and that as many as two dozen other parishes may follow suit. And the Rev. Martyn Minns, rector of Truro Church, was elected a bishop yesterday by the Anglican province of Nigeria with the mandate to oversee a cluster of U.S. parishes that minister to expatriate Nigerians. Mr. Minns was driving north on Interstate 95 from Richmond when he got the news on his cell phone from Anglican Archbishop...

Washington Times reported this morning that Truro & Falls Church planned to leave the diocese. NOT SO according to the two churches. In this morning's Washington Times, Julia Duin reported, "Two of Northern Virginia's largest and most historic Episcopal churches -- Truro and the Falls Church -- informed Virginia Bishop Peter J. Lee yesterday that they plan to leave the diocese and that as many as two dozen other parishes may follow suit." A statement on the Falls Church web site says, "This certainly is not true and misrepresents where we are as a congregation. It is true that we...