ENS: CENTRAL NEW YORK: Diocese files suit against Binghamton parish

By Mary Frances Schjonberg, April 18, 2008

[Episcopal News Service] The Episcopal Diocese of Central New York filed a complaint in Broome County, New York, on April 15 against the Church of the Good Shepherd in Binghamton, seeking what it called in a statement "a full accounting and delivery of real and personal property of the church to the diocese."

The diocese said the action was taken "in response to several actions enacted by Good Shepherd to sever its ties with The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Central New York."

According to the diocese's statement, the vestry, wardens and rector of Good Shepherd passed a resolution on November 8, 2007 stating that they "disassociate and end our affiliation with The Episcopal Church of the United States of America and the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York and apply for membership within the jurisdiction of the Anglican Church of Kenya."

Good Shepherd's weekly update, posted on the church's website the next day, noted that "we have taken the decision to leave the Episcopal Church and we are currently in negotiations with the Diocese of Central New York for the ownership of this building."

An April 18 weekly update said that the lawsuit was "to put it mildly, a disappointment."

Good Shepherd's rector, the Rev. Matthew Kennedy, voluntarily renounced his ministry within the diocese and the jurisdiction of the Episcopal Church in keeping with Title III Canon 9 Section 8 of the Canons and Constitution of the Episcopal Church on December 21. Central New York Bishop Gladstone "Skip" Adams recorded that renunciation on January 15, the diocese's statement said.

The statement noted that both the constitution and canons of both the Episcopal Church and the diocese state that all real and personal property held by any parish, mission, or congregation is held in trust for the Episcopal Church and the diocese. "The Church of the Good Shepherd has clearly stated it is no longer an Episcopal church or in communion with The Episcopal Church, and their clergyperson is no longer an Episcopal priest," the statement said.

Adams offered to allow the congregation up to a year to remain in its current location "while seeking alternative worship space that would best fit their ministry needs," the statement said, adding that the Good Shepherd leadership's rejection of the offer led to the filing of the complaint.

The April 18 update on the Good Shepherd's website gives Kennedy's account of some of the meetings and offers leading up to the lawsuit. "The vestry is confident in our defense strategy," he wrote. "Still, the case law in New York state is not great. We do not know the outcome. We could lose. We could win. We just don't know."

Kennedy, a frequent contributor to the website Stand Firm in Faith, went on to write that "no piece of property or amount of money is equal to the inheritance we have been given in Christ," adding that "we must love those who hate us and seek to persecute us."

Adams said in the diocesan statement that his hope "has been all along that the clergy and people of Good Shepherd would remain in The Episcopal Church."

"We, the Diocese of Central New York, will continue to seek to be faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ in this time and in this place in its ministry to all of God's people," he concluded.

-- The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is Episcopal Life Media correspondent for Episcopal Church governance, structure, and trends, as well as news of the dioceses of Province II. She is based in Neptune, New Jersey, and New York City.