A years-long property battle between the Anglican Church of Canada and conservative dissidents in Vancouver appears to be over, with the ACC winning the day.
A report in The Vancouver Sun states:
The Anglican bishop of New Westminster expressed relief Thursday that the Supreme Court of Canada refused four breakaway congregations leave to appeal a B.C. trial court ruling against them in a property dispute.
The decision by the nation’s top court means the trial ruling will stand, putting an end to a challenge launched by a group of conservative dissidents who split from the Anglican Church of Canada over same-sex marriage blessings and how to interpret the Bible.
The trial ruling by a B.C. Supreme Court judge found that the four parish properties — worth $20 million — held by the dissident Anglicans are to be held in trust by the Diocese of New Westminster for those who wish to worship in the Anglican Church of Canada.
That ruling was unanimously upheld by the B.C. Court of Appeal.
“I pray that in time these sad divisions may be healed,” the Rt. Rev. Michael Ingham said Thursday. “We are thankful that the litigation launched against the Diocese of New Westminster is now at an end. The money, time, and energy taken up by this long and unnecessary conflict can now be directed back to the real work of the church.”
“No member of any congregation in this diocese need leave the buildings in which they worship,” his statement added.
“However, the clergy who have left the Anglican Church of Canada must now leave their pulpits. I will work with these congregations to find suitable and mutually acceptable leaders, so that the mission of the church may continue in these places.”
Members of the breakaway Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC) sought leave to appeal in the Supreme Court of Canada after two lower courts ruled their churches — St. John’s Shaughnessy, Good Shepherd and St. Matthias and St. Luke’s in Vancouver and St. Matthews in Abbotsford — belonged to the Anglican Church in Canada.
The four Vancouver-area parishes voted in 2008 to join the ANiC, which includes three dozen other parishes across Canada, and funnelled $1.3 million to its legal defence fund in the 2008-09 fiscal year.
Cheryl Chang, special counsel to the ANiC, said Thursday the court decision was “extremely disappointing” and should be of concern to all Christians.
“While these congregations have remained steadfast in their faith, and have not changed the traditional teaching of the Christian church, they have now been called to sacrifice all their assets, including their church properties, for the sake of their faith.”
Chang added: “We just have to find new places to worship.”