Episcopal Diocese Sues 11 Breakaway Churches

The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia has taken the next legal step in the property disputes between the Diocese and eleven local churches in which a majority of members have voted to leave the Episcopal Church. (See prior postings 1, 2.) Eight of those local congregations have already filed lawsuits seeking to transfer their property to the Church of Nigeria through the Convocation of Anglicans in North America. The Living Church Foundation reported yesterday that in each of the eleven suits, the Diocese is seeking a declaration "that there has been an improper trespass, conversion, alienation and use of the real and personal property”; an order upholding "the trust, proprietary and contract rights of the diocese"; an order restraining further use and occupancy of the property by the local congregations; an order transferring legal title to and control of the property to the Diocese; and an order requiring an accounting by local congregations of their "use of all real and personal property".