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| Presiding Bishop Katie has wrecked The Episcopal Church by borrowing money to sue its bishops and take away property. Has WELS returned the Historic St. John property and endowment? |
GROTON, CT: Episcopal Bishop Fights Back at Characterization of his Role in Exodus of Bishop Seabury Church
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
May 16, 2014
An article in The Day http://tinyurl.com/ml77gcd (May 9) "Homeless Bishop Seabury parish finds a place," characterized the bishop’s actions as one of “expelling” the congregation from its premises. The article went on to say that the church's legal battle dates back to seven years ago, when the parish opposed the Episcopal Church's ordination in 2003 of an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire and the election in 2006 of a woman as presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church of the U.S.A. The church has now found a satisfactory landing for the congregation, wrote Fr. Ron Gauss.Upset with the claim that he tossed the congregation out on the street, Karin Hamilton, Canon for Mission Communication & Media for the diocese, wrote a letter to The Day newspaper saying that the Bishop was glad to learn the congregation had found a new location, but was upset at the language characterizing their departure from the church building.
“It is the practice of The Episcopal Church, affirmed in courts, that the Church retains the property in its name and each succeeding generation serves as stewards of it. Archdeacon Ron Gauss was aware of this well before he and a majority of the congregation voted to leave The Episcopal Church and join a group under the authority of a bishop from the Anglican Church of Nigeria.” This action resulted in a severance of the property from the diocese and the Episcopal Church.
Bishop Ian Douglas, who by then had succeeded Bishop Andrew Smith as Diocesan Bishop, said he met three times with Gauss and lay leaders of the congregation. Among other choices he offered them, after they had voted to leave The Episcopal Church, was an offer to lease the space to them, which they declined.
Confronted with this news, Fr. Gauss told VOL that this was not true. “He said that he (the bishop) couldn't rent to someone who wanted to replace him. He also he said he would most likely sue us for the name if we didn't change it. He wouldn't even talk to us about purchasing the property.“The bishop said he would only let us stay if we left the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA) and the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). Then it would be a lease (rental) month by month. He also said if he got a purchaser, we would have to leave. I don't know what he means by a lease back that was never on the table.
“The Episcopal Church never appeared on the deeds of Bishop Seabury Church from 1865 to the dates of our departure from the building. If the state actually followed neutral principles as in SC or Texas, we would still be in the building. All of our court dealings were appeals.”
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| The Episcopal Presiding Bishop has sued bishops who said she was doing wrong - just the way Ski, Glende, and staff went to court against one of their members. |