Brothers+


"That the world might believe. . . . ."

Jesus left us an example of how to handle opposition.
It didn't involve swords, defending one's legal rights
or going to pagan courts to gain an advantage.

"Behold how the Christians love one another . . . ." 

Somehow it seems there are no heroes in the legal
skirmish taking place in Virginia. 

How will the world perceive the particpants,
regardless of the legal merits of the case?
Where is the Christ in all of this?

Perhaps we have advanced a little.  At this point we
haven't dropped bombs on one another or lighted a
fire.   "Every day and in every way, we are getting
better and better."

Charles+

"-------------------------------------


Trial Begins in Clash Over Va. Church Property

By Michelle Boorstein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 14, 2007


Tens of millions of dollars of Virginia real estate
are at stake in a trial that began yesterday in
Fairfax County Circuit Court, where priests, members
of bitterly divided churches and lawyers filled the
pews. It is one of the largest property disputes in
Episcopal Church history.

The trial comes almost a year after the majority of
congregants in 15 traditional Episcopal churches voted
to leave the national church because of disagreements
about the nature of God and salvation and about
whether gay men and lesbians should be fully accepted.
Northern Virginia has since become one of the most
active areas in the country for the conservative,
breakaway movement, and clergy around the country are
watching this trial to see what happens to
Episcopalians who want to leave -- and take church
properties with them.

The land issue is a manifestation of a larger debate
within the Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal
Church is the U.S. branch. Traditional Anglicans are
frustrated with decades of what they see as
watered-down Christianity, and the dispute threatens
to split the Communion.

Although traditionalists are a minority in the United
States -- members of the 15 Virginia breakaway
churches represent about 7 percent of the Episcopal
Diocese of Virginia -- they dominate in large swaths
of the developing world, including in Africa and Asia.

Only 11 of the original 15 congregations are involved
in the litigation currently in court, including the
grand, historic Truro Church in Fairfax City and The
Falls Church in the city of Falls Church. Officials
with the Virginia diocese said the property in dispute
is worth at least $30 million.

The trial, which is scheduled to go on until late next
week, is actually the first of two trials, and no
resolution in the land dispute will come until early
next year at the earliest.

The first trial is meant to determine whether the
congregations "divided" under the legal meaning of the
word. After the congregations voted, they filed court
documents citing a Civil War-era part of Virginia code
that allows congregations that have divided to vote on
where they wish to affiliate. If the court approves
the documents, according to the historic code, then
the breakaway churches get the property.

After voting to leave, the 11 churches placed
themselves within a Virginia-based branch of the
Church of Nigeria -- another wing in the Communion.

The Virginia diocese is arguing that there was no
division, but rather that individuals unhappy with the
Episcopal Church chose to leave. The diocese and the
national church, which are both parties in the case,
say that the Episcopal Church is hierarchical and
therefore a "division" can only happen if there is a
vote of its governing body.

But those on the breakaway side say it was the
Episcopal Church that "left" by letting stand the 2003
installation of a gay bishop in New Hampshire. The
national church "has willfully torn the fabric of the
communion at the deepest level," attorney Steffen N.
Johnson said yesterday in his opening argument.

They called as witnesses two U.S. church historians to
discuss how church disputes were settled at the time
the law was passed.

Fairfax Circuit Court Judge Randy I. Bellows has said
he will rule on this case next month. Regardless of
how he rules, a second trial will be held on lawsuits
brought by the diocese and national church against the
breakaway churches. That action asks the Circuit Court
to declare the diocese the rightful owner of all
property. The suits also asked the court to force the
breakaway congregations off the 11 properties, which
they have occupied since the votes in December and
January.

Bellows's ruling in the first trial will help
whichever side he rules for in the second,
representatives on both sides said