S. Side church must vacate building

From the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin:

January 12, 2009

Judge finds in favor of Episcopal diocese

By William Moyer
wmoyer@gannett.com

BINGHAMTON - The parishioners at Church of the Good Shepherd went to worship Sunday to pray for their future after a state Supreme Court judge ruled late last week that the regional Episcopal diocese owns the property.

The local congregation, which withdrew from the diocese and the Episcopal Church in November 2007, must vacate the church building at Conklin Avenue and Livingston Street on the South Side, the court ruled.

"It could be a matter of days, it could be a month or more, we simply do not know," said the Rev. Matthew Kennedy, pastor. "This is painful news."

Judge Ferris D. Lebous ruled the diocese owns all real and personal property, according to an Episcopal canon that states a local parish's property is held in trust for the larger denomination. Good Shepherd disagreed and took the dispute to court, but Lebous said the diocese is entitled to immediate possession.

Lebous had reserved a decision in early December after hearing arguments in his Binghamton courtroom from attorneys for Good Shepherd and the diocese, which is headquartered in Syracuse.

"This may seem especially difficult given the fact that there is no discernible good in the future of this building," said Kennedy, who must also vacate the rectory. "It will, we presume, no longer be used to feed people or to proclaim the Gospel."

Since 2004, the church has prepared and served a meal each Thursday to 40-50 people. Church officials said homeless people, who live on the banks of the Susquehanna River across Conklin Avenue from the building, ate a meal at the Shepherd's Bowl.

Good Shepherd's vestry withdrew from the Episcopal Church and affiliated itself with an Anglican communion with orthodox doctrine on homosexuality and other teachings.

Three former Episcopal parishes in the Central New York diocese withdrew after the national church ordained V. Gene Robinson, a homosexual, as a bishop in 2003.

The others vacated their buildings before their cases were decided by a court.

St. Andrew's in Vestal moved into a nearby Baptist church building; St. Andrew's in downtown Syracuse was headed to court, but decided to drop its legal battle and surrendered its buildings.