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ANGLICANS in the Diocese of New Westminster go to court
May 23. The case may determine the shape of Anglicanism.
At stake is the ownership of four church buildings; but
the case may set a precedent with implications for the ownership of other
Anglican church buildings across Canada.
The court case was launched in September 2008 by
leaders of St. John’s Shaughnessy parish in Vancouver, who made a
“statement of claim” for ownership of the parish building
(valued at over $10 million). Leaders of three other parishes have also
joined the case: St. Matthew’s in Abbotsford; St. Matthias and St.
Luke’s in Vancouver; and Church of the Good Shepherd in Vancouver.
All four parishes left the Anglican Church of Canada
(ACC) over the issues of same-sex unions and scriptural authority. They are
now part of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).
George Cadman, chancellor for the Diocese, told BCCN that, under the
constitution of the diocese, “individuals” may leave a diocese
– but a parish cannot.
The four groups are “gatherings of
individuals,” but not parishes, he said, and therefore have no right
to the buildings.
Cadman noted it was individuals in the congregations
who instigated the court case. “[This was] not litigation the bishop
or diocese has chosen to engage in.” The only thing the diocese has
done, he contended, is to request that priests in three of the parishes who
“voluntarily relinquished” their orders in the ACC vacate the
premises.
However, the priests relinquished only after the
parishes voted to join the ACNA and the diocese took disciplinary action
against them.
Lesley Bentley, a spokesperson for St.
John’s, said the “individuals” who brought the
court case are actually the parish trustees.
She noted that in Ontario and on Vancouver Island,
dioceses had gone to court against smaller parishes; it was likely
only a matter of time before New Westminster would take St. John’s to
court. So the parish took action to “expedite [the]
inevitable” legal case.
Cadman said the properties “are held in the name
of incorporated parishes under the jurisdiction of dioceses.” They
can’t be disposed of without diocesan approval, and are set aside for
Anglican worship.
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That is the central issue the courts need to decide,
Bentley said:which Anglican
worshippers the buildings are held in trust for.
Bentley argued that it is not a case of individuals
leaving the church, but of a schism or “divorce” which is
affecting the entire worldwide Anglican communion – and, as in any
divorce, there should be an equitable division of assets.
It has been the position of the ACC that the ACNA
represents only a “small minority” of Anglicans. Bentley
countered that the 27 Canadian parishes in the ACNA have 3,500 –
4,000 actual attenders on Sundays. Those 27 parishes have greater
attendance than 12 of the 31 Canadian dioceses, Bentley said.
She also argued that the diocese has no right to the
St. John’s Shaughnessy building since it was paid for entirely by the
congregation.
Over the years, the parish has contributed $3 million
to the diocese, and “never received anything back,” other than
a $10,000 loan.
Bentley maintained the diocese has no need for the
building, since it has eight other parishes within a few minutes’
drive of St. John’s – some of which will likely close down,
since the diocese does not have enough people to fill the buildings.
The court case is expected to take two to three weeks.
– Jim Coggins
May 2009
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