Trust also functions as a bond in the life of a community, and is closely tied to authority. In our society, individuals and agencies in which we invest authority are expected to act in accordance with the values of society, with righteousness, honesty, and responsibility. When and if they do not, the public trust is violated. Those at fault must be held accountable for trust to be restored.

In the life of our church, trust is even more important. Those in whom we vest authority - deacons, priests, and bishops, as well as vestries, councils, and committees - enter into a sacred trust between God and his people. When the conditions which form this sacred trust are violated, the perpetrators forfeit the benefits of the relationship, along with their claim to authority.

Consider the situation of a small parish somewhere in the ranks of The Episcopal Church (TEC). Decades ago faithful men and women formed a community of worship in accordance with their faith, obedience, and trust in God. They affirmed and upheld the essential tenets of Christian belief, including the doctrines of Christ, the authority of scripture, and a biblical morality as affirmed by the tradition of the church for 2,000 years.

This faithful local church community gave of its time and resources. The church bought property with the money its members gave of themselves. They built buildings and planted trees. They engaged in ministry and called a rector. As the years went by, they invested their trust in God, in each other, and in The Episcopal Church. They honored the conditions of this trust, and the authority of their rector and bishop. All shared in the benefits of this sacred trust - generation by generation.

Then one day, this parish finds itself with a new rector and a new bishop who declare that Jesus is not the only means of salvation, scripture has authority only when we say it does, and biblical morality is outdated and must be modernized according to what we think is right. The parish is told to accept this new interpretation of Christian belief and practice. The parishioners' trust has been betrayed. The very fabric of communion has been torn at its deepest level.

Of course, this is exactly what is happening to parishes all over the church. TEC is in the process of perpetrating an immense and corporate violation of trust. What is outrageous is the fact that the perpetrators continue to lay claim to the benefits of the covenant, namely the property that was bought and paid for by the faithful Christians through the decades who, had they foreseen, never would have given a dime to this new religious order.

TEC asserts that all property is held in trust - people may leave but parishes and dioceses may not. But this trust is invalid. It is a unilateral trust in which TEC receives all the benefits with no accountability. Trust means you trust us and we do whatever we please. If you don't like it, get out, and we keep your investments.

One need only assess the public doctrinal statements of Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and other bishops, along with the actions taken by them and the General Convention to see this is the case. How can they assert rights to anything, much less the property and buildings of those parishes on which they are trying to force a new religious agenda?

No greater evidence exists to demonstrate the departure of TEC from Christian faith and practice than the lawsuits foisted upon those same parishes which, upon realizing their trust was violated, have sought to extricate themselves from the situation. How are these lawsuits an expression of Christian love? Accept our new doctrine, or we will take all that the generations of your parish family have given. This is nothing short of coercion.

What is even more outrageous is that our courts are rendering judgments in support of this coercion. What divorce court would say to a wife of 50 years that she was entitled to nothing, even though her husband has left her and now lives with another woman - he gets to keep the house and all the savings accounts?

The courts are wrong in supporting TEC, for the courts have not considered properly the parameters of the trust. Secular judges fail because they seek to separate church and state, doctrine and property in their rulings. This is not possible. In the life of a community of faith, doctrine, property, worship, buildings and authority are bound together in a sacred trust, a covenant that flows in two directions. TEC has broken that trust. It has violated the covenant, and therefore is no longer entitled to any benefits from the relationship.

The Christian thing to do would be to bless those who disagree and allow them to go their way. Instead, TEC is waging a legal battle against those who dare oppose it. TEC is willing to bankrupt local churches through the cost of litigation rather than acknowledge the integrity of their community and the investments made by them. These tactics will only bring grief to all concerned.

I call on the leadership of TEC to repent - to honor the faith, commitment, and investment of those local churches which cannot abide by the new order - and to allow them to depart in peace, with property intact. It is simply the Christian thing to do. ❏

---The Rev. Jack Estes is the rector of St. Luke's Church, Bakersfield, California