Virginia Supreme Court Reverses Lower Court Decision On Episcopal Church Dispute

From Falls Church-

In a stunning development this morning, the Virginia Supreme Court issued a decision reversing a lower court ruling that favored the ability of breakaway congregations to occupy Episcopal Church properties. The ruling will have profound consequences for occupancy of the historic Falls Church in the downtown of the City of Falls Church.

Since the vote by a majority of congregants of the Falls Church in 2006 to join the Rev. John Yates and to defect from the Episcopal Church denomination, the Falls Church has been occupied by Yates and his followers, who subsequently aligned with a group of like-minded defectors known as CANA (Council of Anglicans in North America). Those members of the Falls Church who did not align with the defectors were denied access to the church property, and held their allegiance to the wider Episcopal communion while being forced to worship off-site as guests of the nearby Falls Church Presbyterian Church.

Rulngs by the Fairfax Circuit Court upheld that arrangement, granting the defectors the right to occupy the Falls Church, and other churches in the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia where similar events had occurred. The lower court decision was based on an interpretation of a Civil War era so-called 57-9 statute in the state code. The move to defect by the breakaway congregants was due in part to their opposition to the national Episcopal Church's decision to elevate an openly gay clergyman to standing as a bishop of the denomination in 2003.

Now, however, the Virginia Supreme Court has overturned that lower court ruling and remanded the matter back to the lower court for further consideration.

In a statement from the Diocese of Virginia headquarters in Richmond this morning, issued by Henry D. W. Burt, chief of staff, the Diocese said it "is gratified by the Supreme Court of Virginia's ruling that the 57-9 'Division Statute' was incorrectly applied by the Fairfax County Circuit Court. The statute has forced faithful Episcopalians to worship elsewhere for over three years. The Supreme Court has sent the matter back to the lower court for further proceedings. The Diocese will demonstrate that the property is held in truth for all 80,000 Episcopalians who worship in Virginia."

More here-

http://www.fcnp.com/news/6694-virginia-supreme-court-reverses-lower-court-decision-on-episcopal-church-dispute/