A model settlement: The wise resolution of a church property dispute

From Pittsburgh-

This week the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh and nine churches that broke away from the diocese in 2008 finally settled their differences over property rights, and they did so in a refreshingly evenhanded way.

Pittsburgh was the center of a national debate about orthodoxy within the Episcopal Church that had been brewing for years. When the national church named an openly gay priest as bishop of New Hampshire in 2004, the Pittsburgh diocese and many of its members objected and began the process of splitting into two separate dioceses. 

The agreement that the Episcopalians and the breakaway Anglican Church of North America announced allows the nine churches to continue their ministry in the buildings they currently occupy. The parishes continue as title holders to their property, while the Episcopal Diocese retains its role as legal beneficiary. The nine will pay annual fees to the Episcopal Diocese for the use of the properties and will not be able to sell their properties without approval.
More here-

http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/editorials/2018/03/03/A-model-settlement-The-wise-resolution-of-a-church-property-dispute/stories/201803050010

Anglican parishes, Episcopal diocese settle property dispute

From The Pittsburgh Poast-Gazette-

The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh and nine breakaway Anglican parishes have settled a nearly decade-old legal dispute that will enable the congregations to continue using their properties while paying annual fees to the diocese, which will retain a limited say in the future of the properties.

The agreement, announced Wednesday, resulted from intensive mediation that began last fall, resolving most of the remaining legal issues that had festered ever since Pittsburgh became the epicenter of a continent-wide denominational schism in 2008.

That year, a majority of parishes left the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh — opposing liberal trends in the Episcopal Church on homosexuality and theology. They incorporated a diocese of the same name under the newly formed conservative Anglican Church in North America, an Ambridge-based denomination.

More here-

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/region/2018/02/28/Anglican-parishes-Episcopal-diocese-settle-property-dispute/stories/201802280193

Episcopal Diocese, 9 breakaway parishes reach property agreement

From The Greensburg Tribune Review-

The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh and nine breakaway Anglican churches have reached a “distinctively Christian” agreement on the use of their properties, resolving a dispute going back to 2008, the diocese said on Thursday.

The agreement involves two parishes in Westmoreland County ­— Christ's Church Greensburg and St. Alban's Anglican Church in Murrysville — three in Allegheny County, one in Butler County, two in Washington County and one in Fayette County.

All nine are part of the Ambridge-based Anglican Church in North America , a body that formed out of the theological disputes that roiled the Episcopal Church (USA) in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Disagreements over women's ordination, homosexuality and Biblical authority led some traditional parishes to seek autonomy from the more liberal Episcopal Church.

The decision by some Western Pennsylvania parishes to break away led to litigation over issues of ownership and property rights. The status of older parishes that predated the formation of the Pittsburgh diocese was less clear.

More here-

http://triblive.com/local/regional/13368403-74/episcopal-diocese-9-breakaway-parishes-reach-property-agreement

Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh and Parishes Announce Agreement

From Pittsburgh-

The following is the text of a Joint Statement issued February 28, 2018, by the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh of the Episcopal Church in the United States and the following congregations of the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh:  St. Peter’s Anglican Church, Butler; St. Mary’s Church, Charleroi; Christ Church, Fox Chapel; Christ’s Church, Greensburg; St. Alban’s Anglican Church, Murrysville; Church of the Ascension, Oakland; St. Stephen’s Church, Sewickley; St. Peter’s Church, Uniontown; and Trinity Church, Washington, collectively referred to as the "Parishes."

The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh and the Parishes are pleased to announce that they have amicably reached an agreement that resolves disputed questions over the ownership and use of the church property that have lingered since the congregations voted to leave The Episcopal Church in October 2008.

The comprehensive Agreement was reached with the assistance of two distinguished mediators, namely, David L. McClenahan of the law firm K&L Gates, LLP and Mark Nordenberg, Chancellor Emeritus of the University of Pittsburgh and former Dean of its Law School, following years of confidential negotiations and intense consideration by representatives of all parties.

The Agreement defines the respective rights, obligations and expectations of the parties relative to the historic real and personal property of each of the Parishes.  As a result of the Agreement, the Parishes and the Episcopal Diocese can now move forward to focus on their respective missions, knowing what is expected from each other in their new relationship under the Agreement.

More here-

https://www.episcopalpgh.org/diocese-and-parishes-announce-agreement/

and here-

http://www.pitanglican.org/blog/post/episcopal-diocese-of-pittsburgh-and-parishes-announce-agreement

and here-

https://livingchurch.org/2018/02/28/pittsburgh-stays-amicable/

and here-

http://www.anglicannews.org/news/2018/03/diocese-of-pittsburgh-reaches-comprehensive-agreement-with-breakaway-churches.aspx

Bishop Duncan retiring from Anglican pos

From The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette-

Bishop Robert Duncan on Saturday announced he will retire next year as head of the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh, seven years after leading conservative churches locally and throughout North America in a historic and stormy break with the liberal Episcopal Church and its Canadian counterpart.

Bishop Duncan last year already ended his denomination-wide leadership of the wider Anglican Church in North America, which formed in the wake of the split. He told local Anglicans that at age 67, he is now also ready to let go of his duties in Pittsburgh. His retirement will be effective June 30.

More here-

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/region/2015/11/08/Bishop-Duncan-retiring-from-Anglican-post/stories/201511080183

Anglican diocese expects 'tame' convention this year

From The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh expects its convention in Sewickley this weekend to be a remarkably unremarkable.

In 2008, at what was then an Episcopal diocesan convention, delegates voted to split from the Episcopal Church. Last year the Anglican diocese was regrouping and fighting property litigation that is still on appeal.

"God willing, this will be a tame convention," said Archbishop Robert Duncan, the bishop and leader of the Anglican Church in North America, to which the diocese now belongs. The convention began Friday night at St. Stephen Church, Sewickley, and continues today.

The new denomination -- which is seeking recognition from the global Anglican Communion -- has unusual geographical dynamics. The Diocese of Pittsburgh has taken in congregations from far outside the original 11 counties. Christ Church in Plano, Texas, which draws more than 2,000 worshipers weekly, has asked to join the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh, as have parishes from Illinois and Wisconsin.

"That isn't permanent. Our concern is to stand with them while they build dioceses where they are," Archbishop Duncan said.

Read more:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10310/1101156-455.stm#ixzz14VI6ho5Y

Held funds released to Episcopal, Anglican parishes

From The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Parish endowments that were frozen in litigation between the rival Episcopal and Anglican dioceses of Pittsburgh have thawed, and the Episcopal diocese has sent checks totaling $360,000 in back interest to parishes in both dioceses.

"We were concerned that money that could have been used for ministry in these local churches had been tied up and so we're happy to have it available again so that all of our work in mission and ministry can go forward," said Bishop Kenneth L. Price Jr. of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh.

His diocese was awarded about $20 million in centrally held diocesan assets in a 2009 decision by Allegheny Common Pleas Judge Joseph James. Parish property is to be negotiated separately. However, the Episcopal diocese also held $2.5 million in endowment funds belonging to parishes that had pooled their money to get higher interest. The court decree indicated that parishes had the right to that money.

The litigation surrounds an October 2008 split, when the original, unified diocese voted to secede from the Episcopal Church over theological issues. The Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh, which is part of the theologically conservative Anglican Church in North America, has 55 parishes. The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh has 28 parishes that have chosen to remain in the Episcopal Church. Due to litigation over diocesan property after the split, the investment bank Morgan Stanley froze the accounts, so that the money was unavailable to both dioceses.

Read more:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10156/1063383-455.stm#ixzz0pycCvmHW

Statement by The Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh

Prepared for a diocesan-wide gathering of clergy, lay leaders and interested laity held at St. Martin’s Anglican Church, Monroeville, Pennsylvania.

Beloved in the Lord: Christ is Risen! Good Afternoon. Thank you for coming and for your abiding prayers and labors for our Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh. Thank you also for your vision and commitment to transforming our world with Jesus Christ – together – as one Church of miraculous expectation and missionary grace.

Your Bishop and Standing Committee are very pleased to be here with you today to give a progress report and update on the defense and the mission of the fifty-five congregations and fellowships that are collectively the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh.
We have come to a remarkable clarity and unity about our path forward, both legally and missionally. It is this we want to share with you today.

Appealing to Caesar

We are convinced that appealing the decisions by the Court of Common Pleas in Calvary Church v. The Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan et al. (the court’s final order issued on January 29, 2010) is in the best interest of all – and critical to the defense of – all the parishes of the diocese. Over the last six months, the Bishop and Standing Committee have thoroughly examined this course of action, together with a number of other legal options (including ending all legal action), and have given our lawyers instructions to press forward with the appeal as a result of this careful examination. Throughout all of the deliberations and debates about how best to proceed, in which countless voices have been heard, the over-riding concern before the Bishop and Standing Committee has been how best to protect your parishes and your mission.


More here-

http://www.pitanglican.org/news/local/Statement_on_Litigation_04.25.10.pdf

Anglicans hear legal fight details in Monroeville meetings

From The Tribune Review Pittsburgh-

Church leaders from 55 parishes in the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh gathered Sunday at St. Martin's Anglican Church in Monroeville to address concerns about an ongoing lawsuit over their split from the national Episcopal Church of America.

The parishes broke away in 2008 over issues ranging from abortion to the consecration of a noncelibate gay bishop. The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh sued, and an Allegheny County judge ruled last year that the Episcopal Diocese should retain control of diocesan assets worth millions of dollars.

Robert Duncan, bishop of the newly formed Anglican Diocese, informed representatives of the parishes that the appeal of the case is ongoing. Other church leaders answered more detailed questions about financial issues related to the split.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_678161.html

Defrocked Episcopal priest sues his own lawyer

From Philadelphia (Note: The attorney being sued for malpractice, John Lewis, is the lead counsel for the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh)

The Rev. David Moyer, the outspoken former Episcopal priest who unsuccessfully sued his bishop in 2008 for sacking him, has filed a malpractice lawsuit against the lawyer who represented him - often free - for many years in his battles with the diocese.

The suit, filed in Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, alleges that prominent Philadelphia litigator John Lewis and the firm of Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads failed to adequately represent Moyer in the unusual trial against Bishop Charles E. Bennison Jr. and then failed to file an appeal when the jury rejected their claim.

Moyer and the Church of the Good Shepherd in Rosemont - where he serves as rector despite his ouster by the diocese in 2002 - are seeking millions of dollars in compensation for the legal costs of the trial and what they say is damage to Moyer's and the parish's reputations.

The lawsuit has sharply divided the Main Line parish, however, and angered some of Moyer's conservative supporters around the diocese who supported his public challenges to liberal trends in the Episcopal Church.

"David Moyer has sold out his friend and champion for 30 pieces of silver," said Ray Kraftson, a lawyer who helped raise funds for Moyer's lawsuit against Bennison.

More here-

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/80460422.html

Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh grows with addition of parishes

From The Pittsburgh Tribune Review-

Three out-of-state churches Saturday joined the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh — a group of 55 parishes that last year broke away from the national Episcopal Church of America over issues ranging from abortion to the consecration of a non-celibate gay bishop.

The new member churches are St. James Church of San Jose, Calif.; Holy Trinity Church of Raleigh, N.C.; and the Church of the Transfiguration of Cleveland.

An area church — Harvest Anglican Church of Homer City, Indiana County — was admitted to the diocese.

For the most part, the new member churches were attracted to the diocese because of its more conservative theological views than the national Episcopal Church, said Bishop Robert Duncan.

"There has been a secular drift in the Episcopal Church in the U.S. and in the Anglican Church of Canada. It has caused the church to stray from core theology," Duncan said yesterday at his diocese's first convention since the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh split in two last year.

"There is a whole sense of freedom and joy here. We are not spending time debating differences," said Peter Frank, a deacon at Grace Church in Mt. Washington.

For the Church of the Transfiguration of Cleveland, the realignment is an attempt to keep the church alive. The parish initially became interested in the Pittsburgh-based diocese when the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio said it planned to close the urban church.

"We left two years ago because we were going to be closed. We affiliated with the Anglican Church of Kenya, and now we are here," said the Rev. Barbara Harris, a priest.

The Pittsburgh-area parishes that remained with the national Episcopal Church met last month. They named a new bishop, Kenneth Price Jr.

The two dioceses are embroiled in litigation, and Duncan's group is appealing a Common Pleas Court ruling that stated that the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh owns all diocesan property.

Duncan, who is also archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, said the group is seeking recognition as a province from the worldwide Anglican Communion, which is made up 38 provinces.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_652124.html

Anglican Diocese to expand, cut costs

From The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette-

Due to at least a temporary loss of endowment, the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh has slashed its budget, but still plans to launch 70 new churches over five years.

It received five mission congregations at its convention yesterday in Sewickley. It also received four parishes from outside its original boundaries. All nine were already counted among its 58 churches.

The Anglican diocese is appealing a Common Pleas Court decision awarding its endowment to the 28-parish Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh. The two split last year when a majority at the diocesan convention voted to secede from the Episcopal Church, which they believed had failed to uphold biblical doctrine on matters from salvation to sexuality. The Anglican diocese billed this as its 144th convention, and there were references to the Episcopalians as "the rogue diocese."

But others can't be blamed for any past failure of missionary initiative, said the Rev. Mary Hays, canon to the ordinary, as she urged the diocese to start 70 new churches.

"There's a reason we're in this mess and it isn't just the rogue diocese," she said. "We have to take responsibility for not reaching the people around us with the love and power of the Lord Jesus."

The diocese left the Episcopal Church for the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone in South America. Both the Southern Cone and the Episcopal Church belong to the global Anglican Communion.

In June the diocese joined the new Anglican Church in North America, which hopes to join the Anglican Communion.

Yesterday it voted for sole affiliation with the Anglican Church in North America, while its bishops and clergy hold dual credentials with the Southern Cone.

It adopted a flexible 2010 budget of $919,163 to $987,416. That's down from $1.7 million for 2009. Rent will be slashed by moving from Downtown to the North Side. Archbishop Robert Duncan's pay package was reduced from $192,700 to $89,356 but he will receive $75,000 from the Anglican Church in North America for serving as its archbishop.

The convention overwhelmingly passed a resolution opposing abortion, except to save the mother's life, and called for aid to women with crisis pregnancies. There were questions about a clause against teaching that "divorces the sexual act from ... the possibility of procreation."

Some asked if that was a criticism of contraceptive use. Co-author Deacon Tara Jernigan of Butler replied that "the intent here is not to legislate with regard to birth control" but to counteract a world view "that has divorced sex from babies."

Read more:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09312/1011753-455.stm#ixzz0WGbmUSRo

Is This Bishop Catholic?

From The New York Times-

As the archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, you are known as the leader of a conservative — and even ultraright — movement that was founded last year in a break from the Episcopal Church. Do you plan to convert to Catholicism now that Pope Benedict has opened his doors to Anglicans?
I wouldn’t characterize us as ultraright. We don’t beat up folks. We are sort of mainstream right. I am very pleased that the Vatican has done this, but my call now is to lead all those Anglicans who stand where Anglicans have always stood.

Have you had any contact with the pope?
I corresponded with him as Cardinal Ratzinger in 2003, when we had the first national gathering of Episcopalians and Canadian Anglicans who realized they couldn’t go on with the Episcopal Church or the Anglican Church of Canada.

Was this at the time that the Rev. Gene Robinson was being consecrated by the Episcopal Church as the first openly gay bishop?
It was between the time he was confirmed and ordained. He’s a likable enough guy, but the problem is he’s leading a whole generation astray. I don’t believehe should be a bishop.

You and Robinson were fellow students at the General Theological Seminary in New York.
Yes. That was in the early ’70s. He was living a heterosexual lifestyle at the time. He was married. Then he left his wife and later committed himself to a male partner. I don’t wish him ill.

More here-

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/magazine/08fob-q4-t.html

New Anglicans taking their travails in stride

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette-

At the convention of the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh, which is appealing a Common Pleas Court decision that awarded its property to the smaller Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, there was laughter over the litigation and its possible consequences.

Archbishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh and the new Anglican Church in North America, spoke of visiting a West Coast parish that lost its building to the Episcopal Church. Parishioners stuck a sign in the church lawn with a paraphrase of Hebrews 10:34, "We gladly accept the confiscation of our property."

The litigation stems from a 2008 split when the majority of clergy and laity at the diocesan convention voted to secede from the Episcopal Church, which they believed had failed to uphold biblical doctrine on matters from salvation to sexuality.

The new Anglican diocese and its 58 parishes are affiliated with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone in South America and the new Anglican Church in North America. Before the split, some of the 28 parishes in the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh sued the Anglican diocese, saying that church law requires property of departing parishes to remain with the denomination. Last month's court decision dealt only with assets of the central diocese, such as endowment funds, not with parish buildings.

Last night the convention seemed to be taking the litigation in stride. The Rev. Mary Hays drew peals of laughter from the 335 clergy and laity when she preached on a passage from Isaiah that says, "He who has no money, come buy and eat."

"Hey, you who have no money, do you think Isaiah knew that our funds would be frozen?" she asked.

At a dinner people were given donor cards for the Staying Faithful Fund, which was set up to cover expenses related to the litigation. For every $2 given through the end of 2010 an anonymous donor will give $1, up to a match of $200,000 for donations of $400,000. About $18,000 has been given so far.

Today, the diocese is expected to receive formally four parishes from outside its original boundaries. Saying that "we want our new parishes to be fully equipped," Archbishop Duncan presented Terrible Towels to representatives of the parishes in Raleigh, N.C., Springfield Mo., San Jose, Calif., and Cleveland. While the others gave their towels at least a token wave, the man from Cleveland quickly set his aside.

Despite the collection for legal expenses, there were no pep talks about the likely success of the appeal. Instead, Archbishop Duncan said it was a sign of spiritual courage and that members of the Anglican Church in North America were prepared to give up their buildings if necessary.

In the great Christian revivals of St. Patrick's Ireland or John Wesley's England or East Africa today, "it isn't that they have money, it's that they have the Holy Spirit," he said.

Archbishop Duncan predicted that the 21st century will be an "Anglican century" because Anglicanism embraces evangelical faith in the Bible, tradition that stems from a Catholic heritage and a Pentecostal reliance on the Holy Spirit.

"Let's bless our enemies and move forward," he said.

Read more:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09311/1011614-455.stm#ixzz0WBHzN4QL

PITTSBURGH: Diocese releases 135 clergy

ENS-

The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh said Nov. 3 that it had formally released 135 priests and deacons who have not been active in the Episcopal Church since October 2008.
Provisional Bishop Kenneth L. Price Jr. wrote to each of the affected clergy, which a diocesan news release said was its way of "making good on its offer to release the individuals from their licensed ministry in the Episcopal Church in a way that does not involve disciplinary action."

That offer came and concerns priests and deacons whom the diocese said have accepted letters of transfer to the Argentina-based Anglican Province of the Southern Cone.

On Oct. 4, 2008 a majority of the delegates to the diocese's 143rd annual convention approved a resolution by which the diocese purported to leave the Episcopal Church. The leaders who departed have said that they remain in charge of an entity they had been calling the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh (Anglican) until recently renaming themselves the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh. The entity claims affiliation with the Southern Cone

The diocese will tell the church's Recorder of Ordinations to remove the clergy from the list of those licensed to exercise ordained ministry in the church, Price said in his letters to clergy.

The action, Price said, was "for causes which do not affect your moral character [and] does not affect your ordination, which is indelible."

"This is simply a way for us to gain clarity around the issue of who is licensed to practice ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church," Price had said in his Oct. 5 letters to clergy notifying so-called inactive clergy that they would be released unless they told the diocese they wanted to remain.

Price said Nov. 3 that the clergy may be reconciled to the diocese at any time.

"There are canonical procedures that can be followed to receive you and again license you to practice ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church," Price wrote, "and my door will always be open for such a conversation with you."

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_116346_ENG_HTM.htm

Episcopal Diocese releases secessionist clergy from vows

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette-

The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh has given clergy of the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh an unwanted gift: release from licensed ministry in the Episcopal Church.

The gesture is symbolic, since the Anglican clergy left the Episcopal Church in 2008, when the majority of voters at the diocesan convention chose to secede from the denomination. Leaders of the minority who remained Episcopal say they want to remove the Anglicans from their rolls without using disciplinary charges of "abandonment of communion," as was done elsewhere.

Yesterday Bishop Kenneth Price Jr., of the Episcopal diocese sent letters of release to 135 priests and deacons.

This release "was for causes which do not affect your moral character [and] does not affect your ordination, which is indelible," he wrote. Should any clergy desire to return to the Episcopal Church "my door will always be open for such a conversation."

While Anglican leaders say they appreciate the gracious tone of the offer, they believe it is a suspect use of a canon written for clergy who want to renounce their ordination. Few responded to the first offer that the Episcopal diocese made last month.

"It's unfortunate that we're in this situation, but it is asking us to renounce our vows, which we cannot do," said the Rev. Mary Hays, canon to the ordinary for the Anglican diocese.

"They're interpreting the canon in a way that it's not been interpreted before. We're all in a tough place, but our clergy have not abandoned their ordination vows."

The split occurred because then-Bishop Robert Duncan and most diocesan officials believed the Episcopal Church had failed to uphold biblical doctrines on matters ranging from salvation to sexuality. After secession the Anglican diocese joined the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone in South America. Both the Southern Cone and the Episcopal Church belong to the 80 million-member global Anglican Communion.

The Anglican diocese also has joined the new Anglican Church in North America, which seeks recognition as a province of the Anglican Communion and which is led by now-Archbishop Duncan of Pittsburgh. On Saturday the Anglican diocese will vote on a proposal to affiliate solely with the Anglican Church in North America, while Archbishop Duncan would also remain a bishop of the Southern Cone.

Read more:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09308/1010566-53.stm#ixzz0Vthi6sT3

Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh to Leave Longtime Office

From The Living Church-

The Pittsburgh diocese led by the Rt. Rev. Robert W. Duncan will soon leave its longtime office space in the Henry W. Oliver Building, which offers dramatic views of Trinity Cathedral in downtown Pittsburgh.

The group announced on Tuesday that it will appeal a church-property ruling by Judge Joseph M. James of the Court of Common Pleas in Allegheny County, and it will now be known as the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh. Since leaving the Episcopal Church in October 2008, the group had used the name of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh (Anglican).

Shawn Malarkey of the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh said the name change is not related to legal strategy.

“Rather than bringing greater clarity to the legal case, it’s actually bringing greater clarity to our internal identity, and moving forward,” he told The Living Church.

He added that the diocese was resolving the awkwardness posed for reporters, who had to write about two entities claiming the name of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh.

The Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh is not renewing its lease in the Oliver Building, and will move on Dec. 1 to new office space in the Allegheny Center, Mr. Malarkey said.

Rich Creehan of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh reserved comment on whether it would move into the Oliver Building office space being vacated by Bishop Duncan’s diocese.

“We are waiting for a report from the Special Master regarding what is covered in this agreement,” he said.

Statements released by the two dioceses indicated that they are both prepared for a long-term legal battle.

“Our decision to appeal is for the purpose of protecting the mission of our fifty-one local congregations,” said a statement from the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh. “Left uncontested, the award of all diocesan assets to the minority party, a group that comprises only a third of the parishes that were a part of our diocese when we withdrew from the Episcopal Church, would establish a precedent that we believe the minority would use to take steps to seize all the assets of all our local parishes.”

The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh countered: Judge James found that the 2005 Stipulation and Order — that both sides agreed to before those former leaders left the Episcopal Church — clearly and unambiguously requires that the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh of the Episcopal Church of the United States be the rightful trustee of those assets.

“We stand ready to defend our position and the court’s ruling on appeal. At the same time, we will continue to cooperate in the orderly transition of diocesan property, and when the time is right, to engage in a dialogue on other issues between us that still need to be resolved.”

http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2009/10/30/anglican-diocese-of-pittsburgh-to-leave-longtime-office

Seceding Anglicans to appeal decision on assets

Pittsburgh Post Gazette story #2-

A group of 55 congregations that split from the Episcopal Church last year plans to appeal a court ruling awarding all centrally held diocesan assets to the 27 congregations that remained, they announced yesterday.

"We believe we have to make this stand," said the Rev. Jonathan Millard, chair of the Alliance for an Anglican Future and rector of Church of the Ascension in Oakland, one of the 55 congregations that left.

The group also announced that it was changing its name to The Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh. It was formerly known as the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh (Anglican). The group it split from is the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh of the Episcopal Church of the United States.

The split was created on Oct. 4, 2008, when the majority of clergy and laity at a diocesan convention voted to follow then-Bishop Robert Duncan out of the Episcopal Church, which they believed had failed to uphold biblical doctrine on matters ranging from salvation to sexuality.

On Oct. 6, Common Pleas Judge Joseph James ruled that in accordance with a 2005 agreement, the 27-congregation Episcopal diocese was entitled to all centrally held diocesan property.

The Anglican diocese said it was appealing that decision because it feared it would set a precedent that would lead to the Episcopal diocese taking not only $6 million of centrally held diocesan assets, but also $14 million of diocesan assets that are held in trust for local parishes.

Rich Creehan, a spokesman for the Episcopal diocese, said the value of all diocesan assets is estimated at $16 million to $18 million, but he said he could not divide the amount into centrally held assets and parish assets until an inventory by a court-appointed special master is completed.

Read more:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09303/1009483-455.stm#ixzz0VQHhMrQm

PITTSBURGH: Group plans to appeal diocesan property ruling

The ENS take-

The organization headed by former bishop Robert Duncan that claims to have withdrawn from the Episcopal Church in 2008 said October 29 that it will appeal a court ruling that said it cannot continue to hold any assets of the Diocese of Pittsburgh.

"Left uncontested, the award of all diocesan assets to the minority party, a group that comprises only a third of the parishes that were a part of our diocese when we withdrew from the Episcopal Church, would establish a precedent that we believe the minority would use to take steps to seize all the assets of all our local parishes," the group said in a statement.

That statement also said that the group was "pleased to introduce ourselves as The Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh," adding that it was "previously known as The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh."

The group also said that it was appealing because "the question of the legal right of the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh to separate from its former denominational affiliation (The Episcopal Church of the United States) … has never yet had its day in court."

The leaders of the Episcopal Church's Diocese of Pittsburgh issued a statement later in the day saying they were disappointed by the announcement of the group's plan to appeal. They said that the October 6 ruling "clearly and unambiguously requires that the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh of the Episcopal Church of the United States be the rightful trustee of those assets."

"We stand ready to defend our position and the court's ruling on appeal," the leaders said. "At the same time, we will continue to cooperate in the orderly transition of diocesan property, and when the time is right, to engage in a dialogue on other issues between us that still need to be resolved."

On October 4, 2008 a majority of the delegates to the diocese's 143rd annual convention voted to approve a resolution by which the diocese purported to leave the Episcopal Church. The leaders who departed have said that they remain in charge of an entity they had been calling the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh (Anglican) that is now part of the Argentina-based Anglican Province of the Southern Cone. And they say that in that capacity they control all the assets that were held by the diocese when they left.

More here-

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_116205_ENG_HTM.htm

Anglicans appeal ruling on property division

First Story from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette-

A group of 55 congregations that split from the Episcopal Church last year announced this morning that they will appeal an Oct. 6 court ruling that awarded all centrally held diocesan assets to the 27 congregations that remained in the Episcopal Church.

The group also announced that it was changing its name to The Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh. They were formally known as the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh (Anglican).

The Anglican diocese is appealing the decision because leaders feared it would set a precedent that would allow the Episcopal diocese to take not only $6 million of centrally held diocesan assets, but also $14 million of diocesan assets that are held in trust for local parishes.

"We believe we have to make this stand," said the Rev. Jonathan Millard, rector of Church of the Ascension in Oakland and chair of the Alliance for an Anglican Future.

If the Anglican diocese were to lose parish assets as well, it would hurt not only the 55 congregations that directly use them, but also the communities that benefit from church programs like food pantries and outreach to the homeless, said the Rev. Karen Stevenson, rector of Trinity Church in Washington, Pa.

Rev. Millard said the Anglican diocese thought an equitable split would involve "sharing assets, not winner-takes-all."

"That just seems manifestly unfair," he said.

Archbishop Robert Duncan of the Anglican diocese said he hopes to "open those conversations" about sharing assets with Bishop Kenneth Price, Jr. of the Episcopal Diocese soon. Both parties are scheduled to meet today with a special master appointed by the court to inventory the assets involved.

The split was created on Oct. 4, 2008, when the majority of clergy and laity at a convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh voted to follow Bishop Duncan out of the Episcopal Church, which they believed had failed to uphold biblical doctrine on matters ranging from salvation to sexuality.

The Episcopal diocese did not immediately have a comment this morning, said spokesman Rich Creehan.

http://post-gazette.com/pg/09302/1009253-100.stm