Episcopal diocese settles lawsuit

A group of former Episcopalians from Attleboro has agreed to return an undisclosed amount of money to the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts to settle a lawsuit alleging that the group, who broke away to protest the denomination's approval of an openly gay bishop, took cash and property belonging to the diocese.

The lawsuit was one of several around the country between Episcopal dioceses and departing members in an escalating dispute over the ownership of parish property. Conservatives have charged that the denomination is using a nationwide litigation campaign to intimidate them; diocesan officials say they are simply trying to protect their patrimony.

In Massachusetts, where the courts in the past have repeatedly ruled that parish property in hierarchical denominations belongs to the denominations, the two sides decided to settle just five weeks after the litigation was filed.

Neither side would disclose the details, but both said that the departing parishioners, now worshiping as All Saints Anglican, returned a handful of books and some money to their former parish, All Saints Episcopal, where the diocese is trying to establish a new congregation of people who remain loyal to the Episcopal Church USA.

"Both sides were looking for a way to move on," said John F.D. Jacobi III, the lawyer for the breakaway parishioners. "There was a legitimate difference of opinion, which we resolved, and both sides felt that it was fair and equitable."

A diocesan official said the diocese recovered "a respectable" fraction of the $180,000 that was in dispute.

"Everything has been settled to our satisfaction, and the parties will now go their own way and conduct their missions as they see fit," said the Rev. Gregory A. Jacobs, staff officer for urban congregations and ministry development at the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. "We're happy because we did recover monies to help us move forward with mission and ministry."

The departure of the Attleboro parishioners and the lawsuit were elements of a global dispute within the Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church is a province, triggered by the Episcopal Church's decision to approve the election of the Rev. V. Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire. A number of conservative parishes have broken away from the Episcopal Church as a result.

The American Anglican Council, an umbrella organization for members opposed to the direction of the Episcopal Church, has become increasingly critical of the litigation and is now circulating a petition demanding that the national church explain how it is financing the lawsuits.

"The Episcopal Church has adopted a policy in the last six months to a year of suing all the parishes that would like to leave, and the situation in Attleboro is part of that battle, where the diocese is trying to raise the stakes higher for anyone thinking of leaving," said the Rev. David C. Anderson, president and chief executive of the American Anglican Council. "Many dioceses are using litigation as part of a terror tactic, by suing mom and pop, who are vestry members, to frighten them."

But Jacobs denied that the national denomination pressured the Massachusetts diocese to file suit or contributed any money for the litigation. "Dioceses are naturally talking to each other about what they have done in these situations, but the diocese pays the legal costs, and the diocese is determining what is in the best interests of the diocese and its congregations," he said.

The Massachusetts diocese is facing another departure this month, of members of a conservative congregation in West Newbury, but both diocesan and church officials say they hope to be able to avoid litigation there.

The church's departing rector, the Rev. William L. Murdoch, is planning to be consecrated a bishop by the Anglican Church of Kenya and says he will leave to the Massachusetts diocese the congregation's buildings and its million-dollar endowment.