Virginia Senate: No to gay marriages; wait on considering church property law
The Layman Online, February 8, 2005
The Virginia Senate has approved a measure that would make same-sex marriages in the state unconstitutional. The Richmond Times-Dispatch predicted that the House, which is more conservative, will also approve the bill.
But a related measure apparently dropped off the calendar for this session of the state’s General Assembly. The Senate unanimously sent back to committee a proposal that would have allowed congregations that leave their denominations to keep their property and buildings unless a deed or other legally binding document specifies otherwise.
Sen. William C. Mims, R-Loudon, the sponsor of the property bill, asked the Senate to send it back to the Senate’s General Laws Committee. Because of time constraints, it is unlikely that the bill will be considered again this term.
Mims is a member of the Episcopal Church (USA), which, like the Presbyterian Church (USA), has a constitutional trust clause that says congregations hold their property in trust for the denomination. Because of dissent in the ECUSA over the selection of a bishop who left his wife and family to enter a homosexual lifestyle, numerous Episcopal congregations have considered leaving the denomination if they could retain their property.
The Washington Post quoted Mims as saying that, without more time, the senators were “incapable of handling legislation that is either exceptionally complex or about which there has been exceptional confusion.”
Mims says he intends to bring the matter before the next General Assembly. According to The Post, Mims told his colleagues, “These archaic laws should be dealt with by the General Assembly rather than in other forums.”
Mims is a lawyer who specializes in church property cases. He is a member of Ashburn’s Church of the Holy Spirit, a congregation that has joined the Network of Anglican Communion Parishes, which opposes gay clergy.
Ministers from several denominations, including the Presbyterian Church (USA), lobbied against the property measure.