FT. WORTH: Lawyer Threatens Suit Against Bishop Iker

Legal Battle Looms in Diocese of Ft. Worth

By David W. Virtue with Mary Ann Mueller
www.virtueonline.org
1/25/2009

On the eve of a meeting with parishioners of All Saints' Episcopal Church, the Rt. Rev. Jack Iker received a letter threatening legal action against him, "individually", if he proceeded to meet with dissidents from the parish of All Saints' no longer wishing to remain under the spiritual authority of Fr. Christopher Jambor.

The latest volley in the war waged by this parish against the Southern Cone bishop and his Ft. Worth-based diocese came in the form of a threat from Frank Hill in a letter dated Jan. 21 and written on the letterhead of the law firm of Hill Gilstrap. The Arlington attorney accused Bishop Iker of wanting to disrupt All Saints Annual Meeting scheduled to be held January 25. He also questioned the bishop's motives behind the conciliatory Jan. 22 Canon 32 hearing.

The letter was addressed to the "Former Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Ft. Worth" and delivered via fax to Rickey Brantley of the law firm Jose, Henry, Brantley, MacLean & Alvarado of Ft. Worth.

"Your unlawful and erratic threats and behavior now lead us to conclude that you are planning to instruct your principal agents and representatives to disrupt the Annual Meeting at All Saints' Episcopal Church to be held on Jan. 25," Hill wrote. "It seems likely that you will disperse your principal agents and representatives in an unlawful attempt to seize control of the funds and physical possession of the assets and properties of All Saints Episcopal Church and parish, given our already-demonstrated willingness to proceed in such unlawful endeavors."

This is not the first letter Hill has written to Bishop Iker. In a New Year's Eve missive, the Arlington attorney called Bishop Iker to task over the (bishop's) Ordinary's leading his Diocese out of The Episcopal Church and realigning with the Province of the Southern Cone, which is theologically orthodox and conservative. The canonical action by Ft. Worth's Diocesan Convention was taken in mid November and is binding upon all parishes and missions within the Diocese, unless Canon 32 is invoked to disengage a particular parish from the Diocese of Ft. Worth.

Hill called Bishop Iker's desire to meet with interested All Saints parishioners "nothing more than a thinly disguised threat."

Several Episcopal parishes, particularly All Saints, have steadfastly refused to recognize Bishop Iker's continued leadership and his episcopal authority in the duly re-organized Episcopal Diocese of Ft. Worth. Many believe these churches are twisting the canons and legal principles to support their claim to their property. The leadership at these churches also refuses to work with the Bishop to insure their safe passage back into The Episcopal Church. By failing to allow their parishioners to vote, they are ignoring the reality of the situation thus keeping their congregations in the dark regarding the spiritual, canonical and legal issues at hand.

Hill charged in his December communiqué that Bishop Iker has "quit The Episcopal Church"; is misleading the public by his use of the word "Episcopal"; and has abandoned his episcopal fiduciary duties while forcing All Saints to "litigate to prevent wrong doing".

"Accordingly, we are writing to inform you very specifically of the following things," Hill argues in his Jan. 21 letter.

"1. If you take or cause to be taken any of the above actions (specifically interference in All Saint's Annual Meeting), we will recommend to our client, All Saints' Episcopal Church, that suit be filed against you, individually, and against your principal agents who may act in such unlawful concert with you ...

"2. Such suit will seek to obtain appropriate injunctive relief to restrain and enjoin you and your agents from interfering with the peaceful and lawful activities of All Saints' Episcopal Church ...

"3. Such suit will seek to recover monetary damages from you, individually, as well as from each of those principal agents and representative acting in unlawful concert with you."

Hill also charged that Bishop Iker's actions have caused "enormous harm" to those who followed their spiritual leader into the theologically solid Southern Cone and those he left behind by his "abandonment of The Episcopal Church".

Bishop Iker has yet to respond to this latest legal maneuver.

What is clear is that the Battle of Ft. Worth has begun. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has said she will visit the diocese in early February in order to kick off a new diocese of Ft. Worth for those parishes wishing to remain in TEC.

The battle will now move to the courts as it has done in the dioceses of San Joaquin and Pittsburgh.


---Mary Ann Mueller is a journalist living in Texas. She contributed to this report for VirtueOnline