For more than 20 years, former Episcopal Church congregations have been leaving the denomination. The departures have been the result of a drift in the Episcopal Church that began in the 1960 and accelerated in recent decades with the ordination of openly gay clergy and, in 2003, the elevation of an openly gay bishop. Most of the churches left at great cost, since – according to Episcopal Church governance – the diocese and not the local church is the legal owner of most church property. Many joined ACNA (Anglican Church in North America), formed in 2008.
The Texas Supreme Court awarded a Fort Worth group affiliated with the Anglican Church in North America the right to $100 million in church property.
The ownership of the property has been in dispute since the ACNA-affiliate group broke away from the Episcopal Church in 2008.
The ruling on Friday, May 22, is the latest over properties held by congregations and dioceses that the Episcopal Church has been fighting in court for decades.
The Texas ruling may be the first time that a breakaway diocese has prevailed.
For more than 20 years, former Episcopal Church congregations have been leaving the denomination. The departures have been the result of a drift in the Episcopal Church that began in the 1960 and accelerated in recent decades with the ordination of openly gay clergy and, in 2003, the elevation of an openly gay bishop.
Most of the churches left at great cost, since – according to Episcopal Church governance – the diocese and not the local church is the legal owner of most church property. Many joined ACNA, formed in 2008. ACNA now has more than 1000 congregations and more than 120,000 members. The Episcopal Church claims 1.6 million members in the United States. But in 2018 the average Sunday attendance in Episcopal Churches in the U.S. was less than 600,000.
In Fort Worth, a majority of clergy and lay leaders not just in a single congregation, but in the entire Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, voted to leave. This fact apparently made a difference in the Texas case, though other complete dioceses have left and were not able to keep their property.
Across the country, four other dioceses also broke with the national church, including the dioceses of Pittsburgh; Quincy, Illinois; San Joaquin, California; and in 2012, Charleston, South Carolina. In most cases, courts ruled that property titled to the diocese must stay in the Episcopal Church’s hands.
