Episcopal
Church leaders on Thursday said they are done
negotiating and plan to take legal action for the
return of property held by 11 parishes that broke away
because of the church's tolerance of gay clergy and
relationships.
Bishop Peter Lee
and the executive board of the Diocese of Virginia
declared the land and buildings held by the churches
''abandoned'' and said they mean to go to court to
recover or protect diocesan property.
Lee wrote
Thursday that he had tried unsuccessfully to find ways to
resolve the dispute without taking it to court.
''No longer am I
convinced that such an outcome is possible, nor do I
believe that such a move at this time is dishonorable,'' he
wrote in a letter to the diocese.
The diocese and
members of the breakaway Truro Church and the Falls
Church--the two most prominent and largest of the state's
Episcopal parishes--agreed in December to delay legal
action over those two parishes' property, estimated to
be worth $25 million, for 30 days. That agreement
expired Wednesday.
Jim Pierobon, a
member of the Falls Church and a spokesman for the
breakaway churches, said all 11 congregations are prepared
for a court battle.
''We intend to
protect our churches' property rights to the fullest
extent of the law,'' he said.
Pierobon said
church members have filed reports with court clerks that
inform the state, as required by civil law, of the
congregations' decisions to leave the church.
Lee wrote
Thursday that the diocese is attempting to block such
action, since breakaway congregants appear to be
believe filing the reports ''gives them the right to
Episcopal Church property.''
The churches have
voted since late last year to part ways with the
Episcopal Church, which is the U.S. wing of the global
Anglican Communion. They have said they will align
with the Convocation of Anglicans in North America,
which was established by Nigeria's conservative
Anglican archbishop, Peter Akinola.
The Episcopal
Church has been under pressure since the 2003 consecration
of its first openly gay bishop, New Hampshire's V. Gene
Robinson. The denomination has adopted a general
acceptance of gays. (AP)
