NASHVILLE, TN: Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee sues to reclaim church
Date 2009/11/1 18:40:00 | Topic: News
| NASHVILLE, TN: Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee sues to reclaim church
St. Andrew's Parish group won't surrender Woodmont building
From The Tennessean,
http://www.tennessean.com/article/2009911010368
November 1, 2009
 Bishop John Bauerschmidt of the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee has been hoping that God would resolve a conflict between the diocese and St. Andrew's Parish in Nashville.
But the dispute is now headed to court.
The Rev. James Guill, rector of St. Andrew's, says his congregation left the Episcopal Church and joined a breakaway Anglican diocese based in Quincy, Ill. They claim to have taken the deed to their property with them.
The bishop disagrees. He says that St. Andrew's is still an Episcopal church. Guill and church members can vacate the building and join any group they want, said Bauerschmidt, as long as they leave the church keys by the door when they go.
At issue is the future of St. Andrew's Parish and the church's property at 3700 Woodmont Blvd. in West Nashville.
"Parishes don't have the option to leave the diocese," Bauerschmidt said. "People can do whatever they want. But a parish doesn't have that option."
For the past three years, the two sides have been at a standstill, with neither willing to budge. The congregation of St. Andrew's continued to worship in the building, while the diocese waited for a change of heart on the part of Guill's congregation. That ended Friday, when the diocese filed suit against St. Andrew's to reclaim the property.
"We feel like we have left time for God to work," Bauerschmidt said. "We would like them to participate in the life of the diocese. But leadership at St. Andrew's seems unwilling to do that."
Many court cases
Bauerschmidt is the latest Episcopal bishop to end up in court with former members of his flock. In recent years, about 60 disputes over Episcopal property have been decided by lawsuits. In almost every case, courts have ruled in favor of dioceses because of an Episcopal church law known as the Dennis Canon. That church law states that local church property is held in trust for the denomination.
In St. Andrew's case, the church bought the Woodmont property from the diocese for $10 in 1966, and the deed does not contain any mention of a trust involving the diocese.
Bishop John Bauerschmidt of the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee has been hoping that God would resolve a conflict between the diocese and St. Andrew's Parish in Nashville.
But according to the lawsuit, when St. Andrew's became a parish in the 1960s, its leaders agreed to abide by the rules of the diocese. That includes the rules about property ownership.
Guill declined to talk about the current dispute. He insisted in several e-mails, however, that the church severed ties with the diocese in 2006. Blakely Matthews, the church's attorney, made the same claim in a letter last week.
"As you know, St. Andrew's left the Diocese of Tennessee in 2006, and established a relationship with the Diocese of Quincy," he wrote.
In 2006, Quincy remained part of the Episcopal Church. But last year, it left the denomination.
The Anglican Church in North America did confirm that St. Andrew's appears on its list of congregations.
Like many divorces, the dispute between the diocese and St. Andrew's is messy. It dates at least to 1978, when church members were angered over the ordination of women priests. Things intensified in 2003, when the denomination's General Convention approved the Rev. Gene Robinson, a gay man, as the bishop of New Hampshire.
Guill saw that decision as a departure from historic Christianity. He said, at the time, that the New Hampshire situation upset his congregation.
"All that I've had expressed to me is dismay and concern and disappointment and anger over the General Convention's leaving the apostolic faith once received," he said in 2003.
St. Andrew's is not the first congregation in Tennessee to split from the diocese. In November 2006, the Rev. Ray Kasch and most of the members of All Saints Church in Smyrna left to form St. Patrick's Anglican Church. Two more churches experienced similar splits in 2008.
Kasch said his congregation left because of a dispute over doctrine. He argues that the Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, the presiding bishop in the Episcopal denomination, no longer believes the basics of the faith.
"She told Time magazine that she doesn't believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven," he said. "After that, we could not stay. The break was necessary to say we are stepping away from the decisions of the national church."
When they left the Episcopal Church, Kasch and his congregation moved out of their building.
"It was hard to walk away from the building. We were the one who gave our blood, sweat and tears to build it," he said.
Diocese still healthy
Despite the difficulties with St. Andrew's and the denomination's national woes, the local diocese remains relatively healthy. Its membership grew slightly last year. For the most part, those parishes that disagree with the denomination have opted to stay.
"The truth is that there are many of us who are not enthusiastic about the decisions of the national denomination," said the Rev. Jerry Smith, rector of St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in Nashville. "But the church is bigger than us. If you leave, all your credibility is gone."
Even if the diocese wins the lawsuit, there appears to be little hope for reconciliation with members of St. Andrew's or other Episcopalians who have left the church.
Conservative Anglican blogger David Virtue summed up the dilemma the church faces this way:
"At the end of the day, The Episcopal Church may well prevail with the properties, but they will never win the hearts of those who have left," he wrote.
"They have gone for good despite Jefferts Schori's plea that 'we'll keep the doors open.' She might just as well close them. They will never return."
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