CENTRAL FLORIDA: DIOCESE TRIES TO KEEP CHURCH'S PROPERTY

An Episcopal congregation leaving the church is being sued in the dispute.

By Mark I. Pinsky | Sentinel Staff Writer

Posted February 20, 2004

The Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida has filed suit to keep a Winter Springs church from leaving the denomination -- and taking its property with it -- over the confirmation of an openly gay man as a bishop.

Members of the governing board of the Episcopal Church of the New Covenant voted Jan. 18 to leave the denomination.

"Our vestry does not feel at this point that we can remain underneath the authority of an organization that we feel has departed from the historical Christian faith and order," said Scott Culp, secretary to the church's governing board.

Since August, when the 2.3-million member Episcopal Church, USA, held its national convention in Minneapolis, the denomination has been in turmoil. In addition to confirming the Rev. Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire, the general convention voted to permit parishes to continue blessing same-sex unions.

New Covenant is the second congregation to leave the Central Florida diocese in less than a month, but the first to try to keep its property.

In January, nearly 300 members of St. John's Episcopal Church in Melbourne voted to abandon their old property and establish a new congregation, Prince of Peace Anglican Church, in Satellite Beach. More than 100 worshipers have remained with the Melbourne church.

Unlike the group that left St. John's, which affiliated with the Anglican Mission in America, New Covenant has not yet decided where it will go after leaving the Episcopal Church, USA.

The legal action filed Wednesday in Seminole County Circuit Court seeks to keep the Winter Springs congregation from transferring title of its property to a new corporation that is not affiliated with the Episcopal Church.The diocese argued in its filing that such a transfer would jeopardize the interests of congregants who wish to remain part of the Diocese of Central Florida.

"It's clearly established that a parish cannot take property with them," said Joe Thoma, a spokesman for the diocese. "That's in the canons."

At the same time, Thoma did not rule out an eventual settlement between the congregation and the diocese. "We're not taking any kind of confrontational stance," Thoma said.

Culp agreed, saying members of the congregation still held out hope for an amicable settlement with the diocese, one that would enable the congregation to keep its property.

Bishop John Howe and Council Wooten Jr., the diocese's attorney, met earlier this month with congregational leaders to try to work out a settlement. Howe has been outspoken in opposing the Robinson confirmation and the blessing of same-sex unions.

"We respect Bishop Howe and his positions, and we recognize that his beliefs are consistent with ours," Culp said. "We desired to negotiate with the diocese for an amicable settlement that will allow us to come out from under the authority of the Episcopal Church, USA."

Culp said the diocese purchased the property on Tuskawilla Road in the late 1970s for $37,500, and deeded it to the new congregation. Since then, he said, members have spent $2 million for construction. There is no debt on the property, Culp said.

The departure of New Covenant is the latest example of "a denomination in chaos," said the Rev. Kendall Harmon, a leader of a conservative network within the Episcopal Church. Since the August general convention, Harmon said, five to 10 congregations in the nation have left the denomination, and at least one other church has initiated legal action.

Harmon attributed the departures to frustration over the church's "theological deterioration."