From the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth
SECOND COURT OF APPEALS OPINION FAVORS EPISCOPAL PARTIES
On Thursday, April 5, 2018, the Fort Worth Court of Appeals issued a 178-page opinion in favor of the loyal Episcopalians of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth. In a decision authored by the Chief Justice, the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s 2015 judgment for the breakaway parties and held that the loyal Episcopalians are entitled to control both the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth and its Corporation.
Noting that the parties agreed that the Corporation held legal title to all of the property in dispute, the Court of Appeals also analyzed two examples of the many deeds at issue. The Court of Appeals rendered judgment in favor of the loyal Episcopalians on those two deeds, both of which relate to property occupied by All Saints Episcopal Church (Fort Worth). The Court of Appeals then remanded the many other, similar deeds to the trial court so it could rule on those deeds using the same analysis.
Bishop Scott Mayer of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth said today: “We are very grateful for the care taken by the Fort Worth Court of Appeals in reaching its decision. As this unfolds, the people and clergy of our diocese will, as always, carry on our work as the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement. We continue to hold all involved in our prayers.”
The Episcopal Parties and Congregations look forward to the resolution of this matter and the trial court’s enforcement of the Court of Appeals’ opinion.
Read the opinion. Opinion-178pgs
Read the judgment. Judgment-2pages
From the opinion:
All Content © 2017 Episcopal Café
Wow a 180 pages of fire starting paper.
I’m not an attorney, so this is a question from ignorance (and, yes, I know those can be helpful): does this throw out the Dennis Canon? In the flowchart/algorithm above, one question is, “Has the highest church authority decided the issue?” Wouldn’t the Dennis Canon meet that standard?
In the court’s opinion, the Dennis Canon formed an implicit trust, not an express trust. And in the court’s opinion, Texas law requires an express trust. Where the court defers to The Episcopal Church is on the question of who it recognizes as the diocese. The court then applied the express trust principle to a few of the properties in dispute and ruled in favor The Episcopal Church. It remanded to the trial court the determination of whether there are express trusts with respect to other properties occupied by the breakaway diocese and its parishes.
Not a lawyer, but this is how I read it — or, rather, skimmed it.
This is it, also as ruled (definitively/finally) in Illinois. Not patient of further review.
An implied trust is not a trust in which the principals sign on expressly. In my reading of Jones v Wolff the Supreme Court judges said an express trust was needed. This would require something like GC asking for a vote and change of language in constitutional wording. That this has not happened at TEC GCs is a sign it is not something easy to achieve.
Stay tuned. We are in polity no-man’s land.
The decision is a mixed blessing. From what I can tell, it denies the applicability of the Dennis Canon, but rules that the governing documents of the diocese in 2006 were worded in a way that means the Corporation that owns most of the property is the corporation populated by the members loyal to TEC. It rules in the All Saints case that the property belongs to those still in the TEC, but sends most of the parish cases back to the trial court to see if their deeds and governing documents had wording as of 2006 that tied property to the Episcopal Church. The diocese has been waiting 3 years for the court to issue its opinion. It is both headed back to trial court AND inevitably back to the Texas Supreme Court.
The Texas Supreme Court had already held that the Dennis Canon doesn’t create an enforceable trust under Texas law, so it isn’t surprising that the Court of Appeals did too. It’s an interesting opinion. My reading is that the property held by the diocesan corporation belongs to the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth. The national church doesn’t have an ownership interest in the property as such, but since TEC is a hierarchical church, its determination of which group constitutes the EDFW controls.
My understanding is that most of the property at issue is held by the corporation. The case is being remanded to the trial court to determine ownership of properties that aren’t or might not be held by the corporation. However, if. TEC determines who the diocese is, the same logic, the diocese should determine who the parishes are.
How right you are. Dennis Canon is tossed out and looks like every parish going to trial.
Maybe +Dorsey Henderson of Pittsburgh could be called on to advise on how to stay out of court. They could use him in SC as well.
There are a few churches that have bought more church property so that they will have new worship space out of the litigation. There is also one new mission with property purchased after 2008. Most churches are involved in the litigation and will be for many more years.
Thank you, E Larsen!
Dorsey McConnell
Reaction of breakway diocese:
The Second Court of Appeals has issued its long-awaited ruling in our litigation, and the Court has found in favor of TEC’s arguments that TEC decides who belongs to their Diocese and that their Diocese controls the Corporation Board of Trustees, as well as all property and other assets.
Our attorneys are reviewing the 178-page opinion, and I will have a conference call with them tomorrow to discuss how to proceed. As we have said in the past, we have anticipated all along that the Texas Supreme Court will make the final decision on this matter.
As the legal battle continues, let us remain focused on the Risen Jesus and our mission to proclaim the Good News to all people.
The Rt. Rev. Jack Leo Iker
Bishop of Fort Worth
April 5, 2018