Virginia Episcopal officials and the Northern Virginia congregations that cut ties from them on Sunday are each laying claim to the church properties, setting up a complicated ownership dispute that could determine where the dissident flock settles.
By the end of the day, eight conservative Episcopal congregations in the region had announced their split from the national church, joining four others that had already opted to do so, according to information provided by the Diocese of Virginia. Diocese officials, including Bishop Peter Lee, convened Monday to discuss the aftermath of the exodus.
The most pressing question facing the diocese and its former congregates is the disposition of the acres of church buildings and land. The land is located in areas where housing values have skyrocketed. Along with their decision to leave the Episcopal organization, the local churches resolved to retain their real estate. The diocese disagrees.
“I want to be clear on this point: Our polity maintains that all real and personal property is held in trust for the Episcopal Church and Diocese,” Lee wrote in a statement released Sunday. “As stewards of this historic trust, we fully intend to assert the Church’s canonical and legal rights over these properties.”
Among the congregations that voted to leave the Episcopal Church were The Falls Church in Falls Church and Truro Church in Fairfax City, both large and influential churches. The city of Falls Church, in fact, was named after the church, of which George Washington was once a member.
Truro spokesman Jim Robb said their land is held in trust by a group whose board is made up of Truro members, which means they, not the state diocese, should retain it.
The split with the Episcopal Church is rooted in decades of tension with what is seen as a more liberal, less literal national body, which came to a boil in 2003 after the ordination of a gay bishop. The local churches on Sunday resolved to join with the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, which is sponsored by the Anglican Church in Nigeria.
The Rev. Martyn Minns, CANA Bishop and priest in charge of Truro Church, told reporters during a press Sunday press conference he hopes “to deal with these negotiations behind closed doors rather than on microphones” and avoid a court battle.
