February 3, 2011
By Mary Frances Schjonberg

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania has upheld a lower court ruling that said the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh is the trustee of diocesan-held property and assets.

The court, a statewide intermediate appeals court, said in a Feb. 2 opinion that Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Judge Joseph M. James had correctly ruled Oct. 6, 2009 that all diocesan assets must be held by the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh that is recognized by the Episcopal Church. James' opinion and order are online at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/documents/10-6-09_PittsOrder.pdf.

"We are pleased with the court's findings and hope that this will be the final legal challenge concerning this issue," said Pittsburgh Bishop Kenneth L. Price Jr. in a statement posted on the diocese's website.

On Oct. 4, 2008 a majority of the delegates to the diocese's 143rd annual convention approved a resolution by which the diocese purported to leave the Episcopal Church. The leaders who departed formed the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh that is part of the Argentina-based Anglican Province of the Southern Cone. And they say that in that capacity they control all the assets that were held by the diocese when they left.

Those assets include more than $20 million in cash, cash equivalents, receivables, and investments, including about $2.5 million in pooled parish investments and real estate and other real property. The ruling does not involve the ownership of parish property.

The suit arose out of a 2003 complaint by Calvary Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh after a special diocesan convention passed a resolution stating that all property in the diocese, which under Episcopal Church canons must held and used for the mission of the church, would be held free of that obligation.

The proceedings in the suit led to an October 2005 stipulated court order in which Duncan and the other then-leaders of the diocese agreed that the "Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh of the Episcopal Church of the United States of America" would continue to hold or administer property "regardless of whether some or even a majority of the parishes in the diocese might decide not to remain in the Episcopal Church of the United States of America."

After the 2008 diocesan convention vote, Calvary Episcopal Church asked James to enforce his 2005 order.

The appeals court ruling came the same day that the diocese announced that it had reached what it called an amicable agreement with St. Philip's Church in Moon Township concerning parish property.

The diocese said that the terms of the agreement, which must be approved by the courts, "resolve questions over the intended use of the church property and pave the way for the people of St. Philip's to have full title to their place of worship." An executive summary of the agreement said that St. Phillip's "agreed that it will no longer be affiliated with the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh or any similar group outside the Episcopal Church for a minimum period of five years."

St. Philip's members must pay off an existing mortgage; repay the diocese the amount of a 2007 distribution from a diocesan endowment fund; and pay the diocese an additional cash amount which the diocese will finance, with interest, for up to 15 years. The diocese will continue to hold the deed for the property until these payments have all been made, according to the summary.

"The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh looks forward to resolving property issues with members of other congregations who no longer consider themselves part of the Episcopal Church," the diocese's statement on the agreement said.

A press release, posted at http://www.anglicansunited.com/?p=9864, quoted Robert Duncan, the leader of the Anglican Church in North America and bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh as calling the terms of the agreement "heartbreaking" because "even if they agree to pay a substantial settlement fee to keep their buildings, members of St. Philip's are also being forced to separate from their Anglican family."

Duncan said that the mandate was "abusive and unconstitutional" and "seems to be specifically designed to hurt both the local diocese and the North American province."

Duncan also cast his complaint in term of freedom of religion and urged the court to "to strike any provisions of the settlement that abridge First Amendment rights."

Episcopal News Service
The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is national correspondent for the Episcopal News Service.