(August 17, 2010-Savannah, GA) Christ Church Episcopal, the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia and the Episcopal Church filed their reply brief with the Georgia Supreme Court in response to the breakaway congregation’s request that the Court of Appeals’ July 8, 2010 ruling in our favor be reversed.
The Court of Appeals upheld Superior Court Judge Michael L. Karpf’s October 27, 2009 order that the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia is the rightful owner of the historic Christ Church building on Johnson Square and other Church assets.
“We continue to gather regularly for worship,” said the Rev. Michael S. White, rector. “Throughout this journey we have not allowed legal matters to infiltrate our worship or to define who we are as members of the body of Christ. Each day, we seek to be faithful stewards of Christ’s Word and Sacraments and to go forth with a profound sense of humility, forgiveness and love. We are a people grounded in the worship of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. While we have truly experienced that the Church is the people, we look forward to gathering for worship once again using the Book of Common Prayer in our home on Johnson Square.”
Our reply brief notes:
1. Georgia law, which controls in this area, is well established and was followed by both the Court of Appeals and Judge Karpf in their favorable rulings for Christ Church Episcopal, the Diocese and the Episcopal Church. The Court of Appeals went so far as to call the breakaway congregation’s arguments “absurd.”
2. The uncontradicted evidence showed that Christ Church has been a part of the Episcopal Church since 1823, was instrumental in forming the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia and was an active and enthusiastic participant in the life and ministry of the Church.
3. The Episcopal Church’s property canons, including the “Dennis Canon” passed by the Church’s General Convention in 1979, correctly create a trust interest over the church property in favor of the Diocese and the Episcopal Church.
4. The breakaway congregation’s argument that they had no notice of the Church’s property canons is a gross misrepresentation of the facts. For example, part of the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia’s delegation to the 1979 General Convention (which passed the Dennis Canon) included a member from Christ Church. In addition and as the Court of Appeals noted, the Dennis Canon made explicit what was already implicit; that is, parish property is held in trust for the larger denomination and cannot be “taken” by a local congregation.
5. Christ Church followed the Episcopal Church’s property canons both before and after the Dennis Canon was passed in 1979. In other words, Christ Church specifically asked for (and received) the Diocese’s permission to sell certain real property.
6. Christ Church received the benefits of its long-standing (200+ year) affiliation with the Episcopal Church (e.g., priests, ecclesiastical infrastructure and instruments of faith, prayer books, hymnals, sacramental offerings, ordinations and consecrations, Episcopal oversight, etc.).
7. The 1789 land grant from the state legislature says the grant is to the “Episcopal Church in Savannah, called Christ Church.”
8. The Episcopal Church is a hierarchical church (like the Methodists, Catholics, Lutherans, Presbyterians, etc.).
9. The Court of Appeals’ and Judge Karpf’s respective rulings are very much consistent with similar rulings (involving not only the Episcopal Church but also other national denominations) from across the U.S. including California, New York, Connecticut, Colorado, Nevada, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and North Carolina and follows clearly established Georgia law and the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Jones v. Wolf.
10. This case involves a dispute over the control of the real and personal property of Christ Church. It is not about religious faith or depriving someone from practicing their faith; however, such individuals cannot do so from the Christ Church building which does not belong to them.
The Episcopal Church, the Diocese of Georgia and Christ Church Episcopal originally filed a lawsuit after the breakaway congregation voted to align with the Province of Uganda in September 2007 but refused to vacate the church property.
Christ Church, founded in 1733 shortly after the arrival of General James Oglethorpe and the original colonists, is known as the “Mother Church of Georgia” and is one of the oldest churches in the State of Georgia. The church has also been the home for many of Savannah’s most prominent citizens including Girl Scout founder Juliette Gordon Low, Academy-award winner Johnny Mercer and former mayor Malcolm R. Maclean.
