Message from Bishop David Anderson  Bishop Anderson Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus, A watershed moment has occurred in the week just past, and sets the future direction for much of the spiritual realignment within the so-called mainline Protestant churches in the United States. A U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ruling of some years past, Jones v. Wolf, which directed how lower courts were to adjudicate church dispute issues, had become so corrupted and confused that it begged for clarification. Some U.S. State courts have interpreted Jones v. Wolf one way, others another, and some seem to have ignored it. Although I have a clear opinion on how it should be interpreted, the confusion alone warranted SCOTUS' accepting the writs of certiorari that were filed, listening to the various arguments, and then giving a definitive ruling. The Supreme Court failed the American people by declining to review the church property cases, thus ducking the issue, and the result is that neither justice nor good order has been served. Since SCOTUS declined to accept the writs for judicial review, all of the lower court rulings, often different from state to state, will stand. What this means in a practical sense for those churches who have lost or are about to lose their church property to their respective former denominations, such as the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church USA, and others, is that the chain of title, intent of the donors and purchasers, and names on the title and security of the deed mean almost nothing if the church entity claims that it is a hierarchy and has an implied trust on the property. There is one defensive measure that is left open, and I would mention it simply in case any churches are thinking of leaving their parent denomination and haven't done so yet. If you have massive debt on your property, greater than your diocese or presbytery or conference can financially handle, you may be able to force your former judicatory to negotiate with you over a "buy out."

For example, if a large church owes $10 million dollars and has a mortgage on the property, you are actually in a good position. If you all resign and walk away, the property goes into foreclosure and is an embarrassment to the judicatory, and at the very least, they lose much if not all of any implied equity in the property that they are claiming a beneficial trust over. If the judicatory is going to take it away from you in court, why not let them have it and the mortgage as well. Let them make the mortgage payments each month for the property they claim a beneficial trust over. The larger the mortgage the better, and many mortgages have a clause that says that if material representations made with the application significantly change during the life of the mortgage, then the holder of the mortgage has certain rights with regard to acceleration of payments or termination of the loan with the full amount due. If the church vestry or board then sits down with the judicatory leaders and offers to pay what is called in the business world "green mail," (money to buy out those who could attempt a hostile takeover), and an agreeable amount can be worked out, the judicatory can take the money, give the church a quit claim deed, and each will save millions of dollars in legal fees. This could have worked in the Episcopal Church until the Presiding Bishop and her Chancellor, David Booth Beers, decided that they wanted to destroy the departing churches and deny them the use of their former facilities at any cost. When the Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori gave her infamous "guidance" to then-Virginia Bishop Peter Lee and forbade him to fulfill his mutually agreed-upon protocol with the departing churches, a great historic and Christian opportunity was lost.  The Diocese of Virginia could have had millions of dollars in the bank, none of the legal debt that it incurred, and not have empty churches to attempt to sell in a down market. In most counties across the country, the local tax assessors are looking for church property that is not being used in order to put it back on the tax rolls. It also means that the former denomination has to heat or air condition the properties so that pipes don't freeze in the winter and mold doesn't grow on the walls in the summer. County ordinances require the lawns to be cut and trees and shrubbery maintained, or there are fines. Though many Episcopal dioceses are nearly bankrupt, they will have to figure out who will stay on top of all the vacant property management issues, and how the costs will be paid. The buildings could be rented, but they won't rent them back to the departing congregations, and empty buildings quickly lose value. My advice to congregations in the few orthodox Episcopal dioceses is to work with your orthodox bishop and fight the orthodox battle from a diocesan platform. Even in this case, large debt is good from the standpoint of avoiding seizure if things go really bad. My advice to orthodox congregations in revisionist dioceses is to borrow as much as you can handle to build and expand structures, defer principal payments on the debt if you can, defer any capital campaigns until after you have safely left your old judicatory, defer property and structural maintenance issues beyond what are immediate safety issues, and let some parishioners begin to form a new religious corporation recognized in your state. The AAC can provide sample bylaws for a parish. Let the new church have no paper connectivity whatsoever with TEC or the old parish. Clergy and current vestry members can't participate in the new entity until after their resignation and departure from the old judicatory. Build a new, separate, virtual church as a lifeboat, waiting for the appropriate time. If a negotiation with the bishop can result in a "buyout package" and a quit claim deed, so much the better. But if you have to go out and rent or buy a new facility, the new church corporation will have some money in the bank to help make the transition. The life of the church is in looking forward, not backward such as Lot's wife did - and she turned into a pillar of salt. No matter the loss or injustice that has befallen you, no matter how the former judicatory has abused or mistreated you, don't dwell on the past and its pain. Put it at the foot of the cross and leave it there, and go forward with the living, breathing Christ who is interested in where we are going, and whether we will walk with him or on our own. In spite of the loss occasioned by the SCOTUS refusal to consider, the silver lining is that the way forward is now clearer. Go preach, teach, baptize, and make men and women disciples of the risen Lord Jesus. Start where you are and work your way outward, sharing the good news of Jesus the Messiah in the power of the Holy Spirit. And may our Lord bless you in this endeavor, +David The Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson, Sr. President and CEO, American Anglican Council