Episcopal Dispute Over Church Assets

A lawsuit filed in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas yesterday contends that local Episcopal assets worth about $20 million belong to the minority of congregations continuing to align themselves with the U.S. Episcopal Church. Spokesperson Richard Creehan says a 2005 court order stipulates the assets must remain in the control of a diocese that's part of the U.S. Episcopal Church.

The majority, which currently controls the assets, voted in October to re-affiliate with an Anglican church in South America because of the U.S. appointment of a gay bishop and approval of same-sex blessings. It calls itself the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh (Anglican). Director of Communications, the Rev. Peter Frank, says it is not fair for a minority to claim everything and going to court is scandalous for the church. He says his group has consistently offered to have fair and mediated negotiations to allocate the assets between the two groups. Frank contends the October vote was not a vote by individual parishes, but by the whole diocese--a distinction disputed by the minority that may be significant legally.

Recent court rulings in California and Virginia have gone both ways.

New Leadership for Reorganized Episcopal Diocese

The Episcopal Church USA has recognized new leadership for a reorganized Pittsburgh Episcopal Diocese. This comes after a vote Saturday by some clergy and laity to secede from the national church and align with the more conservative Southern Cone of the Anglican Communion. The clergy voted 121 to 33 and lay leaders voted 119 to 69 to split from the U.S. Church. Robert Duncan served as Bishop of the Pittsburgh Episcopal Diocese for 11 years before he was deposed last month by the Council of Bishops of the Episcopal Church USA. He now becomes the Episcopal Commissary from the Southern Cone to Pittsburgh. Bishop Duncan led the secession movement following the ordination of an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire.
Following the vote to secede, at least 20 parishes voted to remain with the U.S. Church. Today the national leadership recognized a Standing Committee to serve as the ecclesiastical authority of the reorganized Pittsburgh Diocese in the absence of a bishop. The Reverend Doctor James Simons, rector of St Michael's of the Valley, chairs that committee. Reverend Doctor Simons told DUQ News that the first task is pastoral...reaching out to those parishes and members who are in pain because of the split.
Simons says that they will hold a reorganization convention December 13 at which an interim bishop will be chosen to serve for a year or two until a selection committee is formed and conducts the process for electing a new bishop. Reverend Simons says he believes that sometime in the future there will be reconciliation in the Pittsburgh Diocese.

Inventory Taken at Episcopalian Diocese in Preparation for Secession Vote

A neutral, court-appointed party will take inventory at the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh as it prepares for a secession vote on October 4th. Calvary Episcopal Church in Shadyside began arguing against a potential secession in 2005. Since then, that congregation has led a minority of churches against Bishop Robert Duncan's plan to leave the U.S. branch of the Anglican Communion for the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone in South America, a much more conservative following. Spokesperson Rev. Peter Frank says the diocese is concerned with ensure that each side is treated "fair and equitably." The disagreement between Calvary and the diocese is over specific doctrine and sexual ethics.