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Episcopal Diocese Sues To Gain Title To Property of Dissident Philadelphia Parish

By Howard M. Friedman

Last week, according to Virtue Online, the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania filed suit in a Pennsylvania state court seeking to recover the property and assets of Philadelphia's Rosemont Church of the Good Shepherd. While the parish has not formally dissociated itself from the Episcopal Church, the complaint (full text) in Protestant Episcopal Church of the Diocese of Pennsylvania v. Church of the Good Shepard Rosemont, Pennsylvania, (Com Pl, filed 2/19/2009), alleges that those in control of Good Shepard no longer consider the parish to be a constituent part of the Diocese of Pennsylvania or the Episcopal Church. It says that the parish has ceased to act in accord with the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church. In 2002, Bishop Charles Bennison inhibited and "deposed" the parish's leader, Rev. David Moyer, who has been ordained as Bishop by the more conservative Traditional Anglican Union. Last year, a state trial court rejected Moyer's suit that claimed the diocese engaged in fraud when it asserted that Moyer had "abandoned the communion of the Episcopal Church." (See prior posting.)

Full post as published by Religion Clause on March 01, 2009 (boomark / email).