Diocese of Chicago and Episcopal Church reach settlement with ACNA Diocese of Quincy

From ENS-

The Episcopal Diocese of Chicago and The Episcopal Church have reached a settlement with the Diocese of Quincy in the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) and 15 parishes and missions in that diocese over real property, other assets and church records that were part of the former Episcopal Diocese of Quincy and The Episcopal Church in 2008.

The settlement, the terms of which are confidential, includes property at issue in a suit filed in 2013 in a circuit court in Peoria.

“I give thanks for your perseverance and courage through the past eleven years, and I am grateful that this settlement will benefit God’s mission in the Peoria Deanery for many years to come,” Bishop Jeffrey D. Lee of Chicago wrote in a letter to the people of the deanery. “Participating in your ministry has been one of the great joys of my time as bishop of Chicago, and I continue to rejoice at your commitment to our beloved Episcopal Church and the communities and people you serve,” added Lee, who will retire in August.

More here-

https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/pressreleases/diocese-of-chicago-and-episcopal-church-reach-settlement-with-acna-diocese-of-quincy/

Episcopal Church can't seize breakaway diocese's funds - and it must pay their legal fees, too

From Quincy-

An Illinois appeals panel has upheld a lower court’s ruling that the Episcopal Church must pay penance, by picking up the tab for the legal fees of a breakaway downstate diocese fighting a frivolous suit by the church and further refraining from making any further claims on the diocese’s $3.6 million treasury.

The May 13 ruling was delivered in Fourth District Illinois Appellate Court in Springfield by Justice M. Carol Pope, with concurrence from justices Lisa Holder White and James Knecht. The decision favored the Episcopal Church’s former Quincy Diocese. Quincy is in Adams County in western Illinois.

More here-

http://cookcountyrecord.com/stories/510724829-episcopal-church-can-t-seize-breakaway-diocese-s-funds-and-it-must-pay-their-legal-fees-too

Illinois Supreme Court rejects Episcopal church appeal

From Illinois- (Quincy)

Local Anglican priests gave parishioners an extra helping of good news during Thanksgiving Day services.

The Illinois Supreme Court on Wednesday denied a petition by the Episcopal Church to review a lower court ruling that decided contested money and property tied to a 2008 split rightfully belonged to the Quincy Diocese of the Anglican Church in North America, the Rev. Thomas Janikowski, public relations director, said Friday.


More here-


http://www.qconline.com/news/local/illinois-supreme-court-rejects-episcopal-church-appeal/article_e2756315-cebd-505d-9459-87b344e36032.html

Appeals Court Rules in Favor of Breakaway Illinois Diocese over Episcopal Church in Property Suit

From Illinois-

An appeals court has ruled in favor of a small diocese in Illinois that broke away from The Episcopal Church over theological differences, including the denomination's appointment of openly gay Gene Robinson as bishop.

In a ruling handed down Thursday, the Illinois Fourth District Appellate Court sided with the Anglican Diocese of Quincy over the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago.

The ruling upheld a lower court decision that ruled the Quincy Diocese's property and funds to be the possession of the Anglican Church North America, the more theologically conservative group that the diocese presently affiliates with.

A spokesperson for the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago directed The Christian Post to an online statement by Bishop Rev. Jeffrey D. Lee.

"We will respond to this decision in the appropriate legal manner," said Lee, adding that as the "process unfolds, our primary mission will continue to be fulfilling God's vision for the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago and its newest deanery in Peoria."

More here-

http://www.christianpost.com/news/appeals-court-rules-in-favor-of-breakaway-illinois-diocese-over-episcopal-church-in-property-suit-123962/

Episcopal Church Files Suit Against Breakaway Ill. Diocese Figures

From Christian Post-

The Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago have opted to file a lawsuit against a small breakaway Illinois diocese over its property and assets.

Filed last week in Peoria County at the Circuit Court of the Tenth Judicial Circuit, the suit is part of the ongoing legal efforts by the national denomination against what was once its smallest diocese in the United States.

The suit calls for the Court to declare the church properties of the Anglican Diocese of Quincy as belonging to The Episcopal Church.

"Plaintiffs pray that the Court…declare that all property held by the Parishes of the Episcopal Diocese is held for and may only be used for the mission of the Church and the Episcopal Diocese, subject to the Constitutions and canons of the Church and the Episcopal Diocese," reads the suit in part.

More here-

http://www.christianpost.com/news/episcopal-church-files-suit-against-breakaway-ill-diocese-figures-108641/

Judge rules St. John's can keep assets, properties in five-year dispute with Episcopal Church

From Quincy-

St. John's Anglican Parish of Quincy will retain its properties and assets after a ruling by Judge Thomas Ortbal in Adams County Circuit Court that caps a five-year legal dispute with the Episcopal Church of the United States.

"We're pleased that the ruling came down in our favor," said the Rev. Patrick Smith, pastor of St. John's Anglican. "It's nice not to have that over our heads. We never were preoccupied with that or distracted by that, and we're very blessed to have a place to gather for fellowship, but (the ruling) does make our job easier."

Appeals are expected from the Episcopal Church of the United States, which had claimed ownership of St. John's properties and assets after a 2008 vote by the Diocese of Quincy to leave the Episcopal Church but remain in the Anglican Communion. St. John's is part of the Diocese of Quincy, headquartered in Peoria.

More here-

http://www.whig.com/story/23402716/judge-rules-st-johns-can-keep-assets-properties-five-year-dispute-episcopal-church-ends

Illinois trial court rules in favor of Quincy breakaway group

From ENS-

The Judicial Circuit Court in Adams County, Illinois, has ruled against the Episcopal Diocese of Quincy and the Episcopal Church in their efforts to recover assets and property claimed by a breakaway group.

Judge Thomas J. Ortbal’s ruling, dated Sept. 6 and made public Sept. 10, is the most recent action in legal proceedings that began in March 2009.

Unlike the majority of other cases in which the Episcopal Church has sought to reclaim assets from departing members, Ortbal’s ruling states that the actions of General Convention and the presiding bishop “cannot be legally enforced” in diocesan matters.

“It is clear, on the basis of the church and diocesan constitution and canons, that [the Episcopal Church] is organized with ascending tiers and it is hierarchical in many of its structural aspects,” the ruling states. “What, however, is much less evident is whether the General Convention constitutes the highest ecclesiastical tribunal with ultimate authority over a diocese.”

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2013/09/11/illinois-trial-court-rules-in-favor-of-quincy-breakaway-group/

Chicago, Quincy dioceses to reunite

From ENS-

The Rt. Rev. Jeffrey D. Lee, bishop of Chicago, and the Rt. Rev. John C. Buchanan, provisional bishop of Quincy, announced today that the two dioceses will reunite on Sunday, September 1.

The conventions of the two dioceses, which had split in 1877 to accommodate growth, had unanimously agreed to the reunion on June 6. The canons of the church require that a majority of bishops and standing committees of elected lay and clergy leaders from other dioceses in the Episcopal Church consent to the reunion. Those consents were received during the summer.

“Along with many of you, we have waited, worked and prayed for this day for more than a year,” wrote Lee and Buchanan in a letter to the people of the two dioceses. “During that time, the Holy Spirit has led us toward a shared understanding of God’s call to the people of Chicago and Quincy and how we should order our common life to respond. Now we are free to go about that work.”
The reunified diocese, to be known as the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago, will include the 125 congregations and chaplaincies and more than 36,000 members of the existing Diocese of Chicago in northern Illinois, and the nine congregations and 755 members of the Diocese of Quincy in west central Illinois.

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2013/08/29/chicago-quincy-dioceses-to-reunite-sept-1/

Chicago's Episcopal leaders endorse reunifying with Quincy diocese

From The Chicago Tribune-

Leaders of Chicago's Episcopal diocese agreed over the weekend to reunite with a much smaller western Illinois counterpart, a move that church officials hope will provide stability in a denomination tested by years of schism and doctrinal disputes.

Local Episcopal leaders expect the alignment of the Diocese of Chicago and the Diocese of Quincy to be complete by autumn. Bishops and standing committees from a majority of the more than 100 dioceses across the world must sign off before the move becomes official, but church officials don't expect that to be a barrier.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-06-10/news/ct-met-chicago-quincy-episcopal-reunion-20130610_1_quincy-diocese-episcopal-church-episcopal-diocese

Chicago's Episcopal leaders endorse reunifying with Quincy diocese

From Chicago-

Leaders of Chicago's Episcopal diocese agreed over the weekend to reunite with a much smaller western Illinois counterpart, a move that church officials hope will provide stability in a denomination tested by years of schism and doctrinal disputes.

Local Episcopal leaders expect the alignment of the Diocese of Chicago and the Diocese of Quincy to be complete by autumn. Bishops and standing committees from a majority of the more than 100 dioceses across the world must sign off before the move becomes official, but church officials don't expect that to be a barrier.

Chicago Bishop Jeffrey Lee said Sunday that the reunification will enhance the large Chicago diocese and provide a more stable spiritual home to the 730 active members of the Quincy diocese's nine parishes.

"Their commitment in that diocese — against many, many odds — to be in our church will be a great, great gift" to the reunified diocese, Lee said in front of a packed sanctuary at St. Mary's Episcopal Church in northwest suburban Park Ridge.

Church leaders are branding the merger as a reunification, a nod to the fact that Quincy was part of a statewide diocese prior to 1877, when Illinois' Episcopalians split into three dioceses.
More here-

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/religion/ct-met-chicago-quincy-episcopal-reunion-20130610,0,3749358.story

Dioceses of Chicago, Quincy unanimously agree to reunite

From ENS-

 Members of the dioceses of Chicago and Quincy unanimously agreed June 8 to reunify, something that no other dioceses have done in the Episcopal Church for 70 years.

Both dioceses, meeting separately, approved the same reunification resolution.

“This is a day that both dioceses have yearned for,” Diocese of Chicago Bishop Jeffrey D. Lee, who will be bishop of the reunified diocese, said in a press release issued after both dioceses acted. “Now the people of Chicago and the people of Quincy will join together in witnessing to the power of the Risen Christ who overcomes all divisions.”

Quincy Provisional Bishop John Buchanan added that “the faithful people of Quincy have shown us all what it means to live as witnesses to God’s mission in the Episcopal Church.”

“Their unflagging commitment to our common life will make them invaluable leaders in the Diocese of Chicago,” he said in the same release.

“The mood here is jubilant following the vote,” according to a tweet from Quincy’s Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Peoria after that diocese’s vote. “It’s a family reunion that’s been a long time in the making.”

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2013/06/08/dioceses-of-chicago-quincy-unanimously-agree-to-reunite/