VIRGINIA: Falls Church Rector Issues Statement on Upcoming Litigation
VIRGINIA: Falls Church Rector Issues Statement on Upcoming Litigation
April 28, 2011
This is to remind you that our trial began this past Monday in the Fairfax County Circuit Court, before Judge Randy Bellows.
We are now in the first phase in which the Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia present their case and call their witnesses. This will likely continue into next week, perhaps longer. After that comes the second phase, in which our church and the other churches present their case. We do not know precisely when we will begin. Because this case is based on Virginia property and contract law, each individual church must review its history and all deeds, etc., be examined, which will take several weeks. It is likely the trial will last till early June and then further likely that it will take Judge Bellows most of the summer to issue his rulings.
The Episcopal Church and Diocese of Virginia claim that the property and buildings belong to them and we have only been entrusted with the care and use of them on behalf of the denomination. Our position is, simply stated, that all things belong ultimately to God, but that because the deeds are in the name of our church and the property and buildings paid for by the members of the church, we have been entrusted by God with the stewardship of the property and no other claims to ownership are valid. In other states where similar cases have been held, judges have ruled sometimes for the denomination and sometimes for the local church.
Please remember in your prayers our legal team, especially Gordon Coffee, Jim Johnson, Paul Farquharson, Steffen Johnson, and Scott Ward. We will gather for another parish prayer night towards the end of the trial - the date is tentatively set for Wednesday, June 1. Visitors are allowed in the court during the trial, if you want to attend and be there praying in person.
Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org
April 28, 2011
This is to remind you that our trial began this past Monday in the Fairfax County Circuit Court, before Judge Randy Bellows.
We are now in the first phase in which the Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia present their case and call their witnesses. This will likely continue into next week, perhaps longer. After that comes the second phase, in which our church and the other churches present their case. We do not know precisely when we will begin. Because this case is based on Virginia property and contract law, each individual church must review its history and all deeds, etc., be examined, which will take several weeks. It is likely the trial will last till early June and then further likely that it will take Judge Bellows most of the summer to issue his rulings.
The Episcopal Church and Diocese of Virginia claim that the property and buildings belong to them and we have only been entrusted with the care and use of them on behalf of the denomination. Our position is, simply stated, that all things belong ultimately to God, but that because the deeds are in the name of our church and the property and buildings paid for by the members of the church, we have been entrusted by God with the stewardship of the property and no other claims to ownership are valid. In other states where similar cases have been held, judges have ruled sometimes for the denomination and sometimes for the local church.
Please remember in your prayers our legal team, especially Gordon Coffee, Jim Johnson, Paul Farquharson, Steffen Johnson, and Scott Ward. We will gather for another parish prayer night towards the end of the trial - the date is tentatively set for Wednesday, June 1. Visitors are allowed in the court during the trial, if you want to attend and be there praying in person.
Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org
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