Virginia continues exploration of same-sex blessings, suing for property

Ed: Remind me, exactly which part of the Windsor process is this again?

The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, meeting as its 213th annual Council January 25-26 in Reston committed to a continuing discernment process about the full inclusion in the life of the diocese of people living in same-gender relationships and heard its bishop defend ongoing property litigation.

Bishop Peter Lee told the Council that the litigation is "required to secure churches occupied by individuals who have abandoned the Episcopal Church."

"The shadow of that litigation is a present reality and I want to address it first so that we can move on to the more important matters of the mission and ministry required by God’s abundant love," he said in his address.

Lee explained that the litigation stems from the decisions of 11 congregations to leave the Episcopal Church. Those congregations "continue to use the Church’s property to the exclusion of those members who chose to remain loyal to the Episcopal Church," he said.

Saying that "defending our heritage and securing our future is expensive," Lee told the Council that the diocese has spent nearly $2 million thus far. Interest on a line of credit obtained to cover those costs is being paid from endowment income and not pledge money, the bishop added.

"At the conclusion of this litigation, we expect to pay off the line of credit by selling undeveloped and unconsecrated property, a process that is already under way," Lee said. "No one likes lawsuits but at the same time, our generation has a stewardship responsibility to protect the property of our churches for Episcopalians in the next 400 years."

Lee said the case "involves Virginia’s historic tradition of religious liberty."

"The recent motion of Virginia Attorney General Robert McDonnell to intervene in the case represents an intrusion by the state into the freedom of the church," he said.

The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia, as well as other faith communities in the state, have opposed the attorney general's move. The judge in the case is yet to rule on the attorney general's effort.

Lee noted that delegates from three of the continuing Episcopal congregations involved in the dispute -- St. Margaret’s, Woodbridge; St. Stephen’s, Heathsville; and The Falls Church, Falls Church -- were seated at Council for the second year in a row. Delegates from Church of the Epiphany, Herndon, joined them this year for the first time.

In a report to the Council, the R-5 Commission, which emerged from a 212th Council resolution of that number, reported on its effort to discern a possible "emerging consensus" regarding the permitting of "local option" for the blessing of same-gender unions.

The commission recommended that a newly constituted group compile and make available theological, catechetical, and liturgical resources within the Episcopal Church and the wider Anglican Communion for the pastoral care and spiritual support of same-gender couples in committed relationships. It also suggested that the new group hold four town hall meetings to share resources for education and to "establish a better sense of an 'emerging consensus' pertaining to 'local option' for the blessing of same-gender unions," and report to the next Council. Read more
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