July 9, 2010
By Mary Frances Schjonberg

The Georgia Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court ruling that the real property and other assets of Christ Church Episcopal in Savannah are held in trust for the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia and the Episcopal Church.

The text of the opinion is online at http://www.ccesavannah.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/GA-Ct-App-opinion.pdf.

The Episcopal Church, the Diocese of Georgia and Christ Church Episcopal originally filed a lawsuit after some clergy and members of the parish voted to align with the Anglican Church of the Province of Uganda in September 2007 but refused to vacate the building and relinquish control over other church assets.

The appeals court's July 8 ruling upheld an Oct. 27, 2009, ruling by Chatham County Court Judge Michael Karpf, which said that "a trust over the property exists in favor of the national church and the Diocese of Georgia. Accordingly, the court finds that the church property reverts to the control of the bishop of the Diocese of Georgia for the uses and purposes of the Episcopal Church and that plaintiffs are entitled to immediate possession."

A three-member panel of the Court of Appeals said there is "uncontradicted evidence" that the Episcopal Church "has always required parish property to be held and used for the mission of the National [sic] Episcopal Church and its dioceses." The opinion noted that other courts across the United States have ruled the same way.

The court described Christ Church's longstanding affiliation with the Episcopal Church, noting that the parish was "instrumental" in the establishment of the Diocese of Georgia in 1823. The court said that it was then that Christ Church first agreed to be subject to the Episcopal Church's constitution and canons, and that it continued to do so when it later amended its charter.

Until the congregation split, Christ Church had abided by the requirements of the Episcopal Church's property canons, including after the General Convention in 1979 passed the "Dennis Canon" (Canon 1.7.4), which states that a parish holds its property in trust for the diocese and the Episcopal Church, the appeals court said. The breakaway congregation has 10 days to file a motion for rehearing in the Court of Appeals. If the members do not ask for rehearing, they have 20 days to ask the Georgia Supreme Court to review the appeals court's opinion. However, if the breakaway congregation does ask for a rehearing by the appeals court, the 20-day time period for petitioning the state Supreme Court would not begin to run until the appeals court denies its motion.

If any of those scenarios unfold, "it could be several more months before the case is resolved," T. Mills Fleming, senior warden of the continuing congregation, noted in an e-mail sent to ENS after the ruling.

The dispute began in March 2006 when the church's former rector and members of the vestry changed the parish's articles of incorporation to disavow its affiliation with the Episcopal Church. In November 2007, the diocese filed a petition in Chatham Superior Court to regain the parish's real and personal property after the vestry voted unanimously to place the congregation under the care of John Guernsey, a former Episcopal priest who had been consecrated as a Province of Uganda bishop.

Since October 2007, the continuing congregation has been worshipping on Sunday evenings at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Savannah.

"While worshipping in borrowed space waiting for the Georgia legal system to facilitate our return to our home on Johnson Square, we truly experienced an amazing spiritual renewal," the Rev. Michael S. White, Christ Church's rector, said after the ruling. "We have come to see experientially what scripture proclaims to be true – that the church really is the people and not the building in which we meet."

"As we move another step closer to our return to Johnson Square, we do so a changed people," White said. "We are excited to soon bring the truths of church that we have experienced, while in exile, back to our beautiful historic church. The mission, ministry and community that we shared during this time away actually attracted many new families who were not part of Christ Church Episcopal before we had to leave our historic home."

White added that the continuing congregation has prayed each Sunday for those former members who left the Episcopal Church. "We wish them well as they seek to find God's call for their new community with a new mission outside the Episcopal Church," he said.

Meanwhile, Georgia Bishop Scott Behase said in a statement that "we are grateful to our Heavenly Father for the sound judgment and wisdom of the court."

"The historic mission of the Episcopal Church in Savannah and in Georgia flows through Christ Church. Episcopalians through the centuries have given sacrificially and worked faithfully to support the mission of Jesus Christ through his body at Christ Church," he said. "The court's ruling reaffirms that this mission, guided by the Holy Spirit, will continue in its historic church home."

Established in 1733 by General James Oglethorpe, founder of the Georgia colony, Christ Church is known as the "Mother Church of Georgia." The church has been the home for many of Savannah's most prominent citizens, according to a statement on its website, including Girl Scout founder Juliette Gordon Low and Academy-award winner Johnny Mercer. It counts among its former rectors John Wesley and George Whitfield, and in more recent times, Bland Tucker.

The Episcopal Diocese of Georgia covers the southern two thirds of the state of Georgia, including Savannah, Augusta, Albany, Thomasville, Valdosta and Brunswick.

Episcopal News Service
The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is national correspondent for the Episcopal News Service and editor of Episcopal News Monthly/Quarterly.