Episcopal Press and News
Connecticut Supreme Court rules for Episcopal Church in Bishop Seabury parish case
Episcopal News Service. October 3, 2011 [100311-03]
ENS staff
The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled unanimously Sept. 30 in favor of the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Connecticut in two lawsuits brought to return to the church control of the real and personal property of Bishop Seabury Episcopal Church in Groton.
The lawsuits were filed after the former ordained and lay leadership of the parish chose to leave the Episcopal Church but had refused to relinquish possession of its property of the parish, which is named for the first Episcopal bishop and Groton native Samuel Seabury (1729-1796).
The state Supreme Court upheld lower court decisions that said the parish's real and personal property is held in trust for the diocese and the Episcopal Church.
The court noted one of its two rulings that the "highest courts of several other jurisdictions" have concluded that the church's "Dennis Canon" (Canon 1.7.4) applies in such cases.
The General Convention in 1979 approved Canon 1.7.4 which states that a parish holds its property in trust for the diocese and the Episcopal Church. The Dennis Canon applies, the court said, even if the property involved has been held in the name of the parish since before the canon was enacted. It said that it agreed with other courts which have ruled that the canon applies because Seabury, like other parishes, agreed at the outset to be bound by the denomination's constitution and canons, knowing that General Convention may change them in the future.
Former rector the Rev. Ronald S. Gauss and some former members of the parish, including then-vestry members, affiliated with the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA) in November 2007. Gauss has since refused to relinquish control of the church property, including the keys to the buildings and parish records.
Gauss was one the so-called "Connecticut Six" priests who, along with some members of their congregations, filed a federal lawsuit in September 2005 claiming that the diocese and others had violated their civil rights. A U.S. District Court judge dismissed the case Aug. 21, 2006.
Ecclesiastical charges against then-Bishop Andrew D. Smith brought by the "Connecticut Six" were dismissed by the Episcopal Church's Title IV Review Committee in April 2007.
Gauss applied for retirement from active ministry in October 2007. On Nov. 13, 2007, Smith approved his application to retire on Dec. 1. On Nov. 14, the wardens of Bishop Seabury Church wrote to Smith informing him that the parish had affiliated with CANA.
Smith removed the parish's wardens from office and asked them and Gauss to relinquish the property, which they have not done. The bishop appointed the Rev. Canon David Cannon as priest-in-charge of Bishop Seabury Church.
The defendants in the current action argued to the court that they could choose who would control the parish property and that the property was not subject to the polity of the Episcopal Church.
"While we are all blessed with the right to worship as we choose, the court's ruling joins the many other states that have ruled that those who leave the Episcopal Church cannot take property of the church with them," the diocese said in a press release.
Connecticut Bishop Ian T. Douglas said in the release that "this has been a long and difficult process that has taken away from our common witness to the Good News of God in our Savior Jesus Christ. With the decision of the Supreme Court we can now put this matter behind us and once again turn our full attention to the work of proclaiming and making real that Good News in all the world."
The court's decisions in each appeal are here and here. Both decisions become final when they are officially released on Oct. 11.