I know, I know ... it's not supposed to be about "winners and losers" ... but who are we kidding?
Connecticut court: breakaway parish can't keep property
The bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut says he wants to talk with members of a local parish that broke off from the national church after it consecrated its first gay bishop in 2003 about either rejoining the Episcopal faith or leaving the property.
Bishop Ian Douglas' comments came after the state Supreme Court ruled Friday that parishioners at the 135-year-old Bishop Seabury Church in Groton cannot keep the building and land.
Parish members say in a statement that they're disappointed with the ruling and will be discussing what to do next with their lawyers.
The parishioners and their pastor refused to turn over the building and land to the diocese after leaving the church in 2007, but were allowed to stay there while the legal case was pending.
[Source link: SF Gate]
4 comments:
It's an unbelievable level CHUTZPAH, to think one could take {cough *steal* cough} "Bishop Seabury Parish" from the Episcopal Church! O_o
"who are we kidding" indeed.
Since the sanctuary (built in 2001) was paid for entirely by conservative church members (no money came from Diocese or Nat'l church), I can see why the church members tried to stay there as long as they could...
I'm sure they will find another building that is satisfactory for them. Every one at Bishop Seabury Church agrees... 'it's just a building. It's not the Church. We are the Church..'
I don't know what their church membership is, my guess maybe a few hundred attend?
Either way, the historical church will now be empty. And will fall quickly into disrepair... (as are many Episcopal churches & whole dioceses across the nation.).. Why is that a better scenario than letting the bible believing Christians occupy the building...?
LG,
Bless your heart ... back again with more joy of Jesus down in your heart, are you?
You're right about one thing ... the building is not the church ... the people are the church ... and they can now go be the kind of church they want to be without illegally occupying (your word) somebody else's property.
And in point of fact, the one historic property that's now been returned to the Diocese of Los Angeles has a thriving, growing, inclusive congregation in La Crescenta ... and I see no reason to expect anything different for the good people of Groton as they seek to rebuild a Jesus following church out of the wreckage perpetrated by those determined to blow up the church they've been unsuccessful in creating in their own image.
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