Last week the South Carolina Supreme Court issued an interesting decision in litigation stemming the 2004 vote by members of All Saints Parish, Waccamaw, to break away from the Episcopal Church USA and instead affiliate with the more conservative Episcopal Church of Rwanda. A small group of members remained loyal to ECUSA and the South Carolina Episcopal Diocese and purported to elect a new vestry for the congregation. In All Saints Parish Waccamaw v. The Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of South Carolina, (SC Sup. Ct., Sept. 18, 2009), the court, applying neutral principles of civil law, held that the Parish's property belongs to the break-away group and that the vestry elected by the majority break-away group are the true officers of the Parish.
The court's decision on property ownership held that the Statute of Uses converted beneficial ownership of Parish property under a 1745 Trust Deed into legal title for the Congregation of All Saints Parish. The Court went on to hold that while the Diocese of South Carolina amended its Constitution in 1987 to add the Dennis Canon-- which declares a trust in favor of the ECUSA and the Diocese on all real and personal property held by any congregation-- the action did not affect property of All Saints Parish. The Court said that the Dennis Canon could only impose a trust on property owned by the Diocese. A comment on the decision on Episcopal Cafe makes the interesting point that "the decision simply assumes (without considering the matter) that South Carolina can switch from being a 'deference' state to a 'neutral principles' state without thereby interfering with anybody's established property rights." [Thanks to John B. Chilton for the lead.]
