Judge evicts Episcopal congregation
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, May 5, 1999
BROCKTON, Mass. – By defying bishops who condone same-sex marriages and non-celibate, unmarried priests, parishioners of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Brockton have lost their $3-million church building and a $2.5 million bequest but not their biblical foundation.
St. Paul’s is a battleground between biblical orthodoxy and the unrelenting efforts by gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgendered people who seek to win ecclesiastical approval for their lifestyles – even when they drive away growing evangelical congregations, such as St. Paul’s.
St. Paul’s is a predominantly black congregation that has conducted a strong inner-city ministry, including a soup kitchen. But by withholding its diocesan assessment to protest same-sex marriages and non-celibate single priests, the congregation has been exiled by the bishop.
Therein lies an irony: Last year, Anglican bishops worldwide attended their once-a-decade Lambeth Conference and voted in favor of a resolution that “upholds faithfulness in marriage between and man and a woman in lifelong union, and believes that abstinence is right for those who are not called to marriage.” The statement advised against blessing same gender unions or ordaining those involved in such unions.
Many renounce resolution
But many Episcopal bishops in the United States renounced the non-binding Lambeth resolution and said, in effect, that it was the product of unsophisticated Third World bishops who had been plied with barbecue and fundamentalism by American traditionalists.
The St. Paul’s case rises out of the aftermath of Lambeth. The argument of the congregation, which has not been tested by civil courts, is that the liberal bishops have abandoned orthodoxy as required by the 39 Articles of Faith. (The 39 Articles of Faith, the foundational theological declaration of the Anglican communion, bears strong theological kinship to the Westminster Confession of Faith.)
Interestingly, a number of renewal leaders and legal minds in the Episcopal Church hopes to present that argument in civil courts – if possible. By constitutional design, American courts have avoided passing judgment on religion except when health and life issues are at stake or when religious laws conflict with U.S. law. The courts say the decision-making process in a denomination, whether or not faithful to its heritage, is not the public’s business.
Ruling skirts religious issue
In March, a Plymouth County Superior Court judge upheld the complaint of the diocese and evicted the 300-family congregation from the parish house, ruling that the congregation has renounced the jurisdiction of the diocese. The judge took care to note that his ruling did not address the religious issues.
Since then, some of the parishioners have gathered for services and protests outside the brownstone parish house, but they have not been welcomed back indoors. On a recent Sunday, 60 St. Paul’s parishioners worshiped and sang outdoors while 10 people worshiped inside under the leadership of a diocese-appointed interim vicar. The exiled Episcopalians included a mother who held a Sunday school class for nine children in a black Dodge Intrepid. Additional worship-in-exile services are planned. Retired Bishop Christopher FitzSimmons Allison of South Carolina said recently he plans to meet with the congregation and encourage parishioners in their struggle.
Observers in the Episcopal Church are uncertain what the final outcome will be in the St. Paul’s case. Episcopal canon law gives bishops enormous power, including eviction and taking over property of dissident congregations. The church law has been tested and upheld in civil courts.
Property held in trust
In the Presbyterian Church (USA), dissenting congregations are not so easily or quickly dismissed. But the property of local Presbyterian congregations is held in trust for the General Assembly, and presbyteries can take similar action against dissident congregations.
St. Paul’s case has raised international ripples. While a majority of Episcopal bishops and priests in the United States welcomes non-celibate gays in leadership, bishops worldwide are more orthodox. And many American Episcopal traditionalists are resisting the efforts to scuttle orthodoxy.
There is already in place an organization of Episcopal evangelicals called the Episcopal Synod of America which is on the brink of becoming a denomination. ESA President Peter Moriarty and retired Quincy, Mass., Bishop Edward MacBurney met on the sidewalk of St. Paul’s with its parishioners and offered encouragement and invitation.
‘Unauthorized visit’
Speaking to the congregation, Moriarty said that the ESA was offering episcopal oversight on an interim basis, until the ESA council meets in November. The diocese that evicted the congregation called it an “unauthorized visit.”
The issue is geographically technical. The ESA is attempting to create a new Anglican province within the geographical boundaries of the Episcopal Church in America. Worldwide, the Anglican community does not recognize more than one province in a geographical region. To recognize others, the British Parliament would have to change the law establishing the Church of England.
Moriarty and the ESA seek to establish a province in which bishops and priests would be in allegiance with the 39 Articles of Faith. Since that document has not been repealed or modified, they believe it represents the requirements for the true Church of England.
Todd Wetzel, executive director of Episcopalians United, a renewal group similar to the Presbyterian Lay Committee in the PCUSA, says he believes the handwriting is on the wall as far as orthodox parishes, bishops and priests are concerned.
“Theological orthodoxy is no longer being articulated by the majority of denominational leadership,” he said, “and church members should begin now to face the reality. To affirm Jesus Christ as lord and savior may well cost them the church building. The truth is it may be the most spiritually refreshing decision a congregation ever makes.
“It might well be the beginning of new life for people who were once in mainline denominations, because we will have to discover again that the church is first and foremost a community in relationship with Jesus Christ and not bricks and mortar.”