Virginia
judge's ruling favors CANA parishes
Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Randy Bellows issued an opinion June 27 in favor of 11 Virginia congregations where the majority of members voted to leave The Episcopal Church in 2006 and affiliate with the Anglican Church of Nigeria.
Judge Bellows' decision concerned the constitutionality of a Civil War-era Virginia statute which permits a local congregation to decide the fate of its property by majority vote in the event of a denominational split. Judge Bellows previously ruled in April that under the terms of Virginia Statute 57-9A), a split had occurred within The Episcopal Church.
The decision addressed whether the Virginia statute violated the Free Exercise or Establishment Clauses of the First Amendment, the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and the "Takings" Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
The case is by no means over, however. One constitutional issue which the court did not resolve in its opinion is the assertion by The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia that the Virginia statute violates contract rights. .
—From the Web site of The
Living Church.
