Commentary: Denominations Coming Together in Whole New Ways

The ecumenical tendencies in some Christian denominations are quite strong, but recently they have found a new issue on which they can unite. And it’s not some noble cause of poverty, racial justice or a new mission’s efforts; denominations are coming together in the defense of Episcopal Church property in Virginia.

The Episcopal Church is trying to maintain the property of seven of the former Episcopal churches in northern Virginia that have chosen to realign themselves with the Convocation of Anglicans to North America (CANA), an Anglican missionary effort in the United States sponsored by the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion). CANA was established in response to the increasingly divisive actions of the Episcopal Church.

The Church of Nigeria and several other Anglican bodies have become safe havens for conservative Episcopalians to join as their denomination embraces a growing liberal agenda. The seven Virginia congregations went through lengthy internal processes of separating themselves from the Episcopal Church, and while the votes were not unanimous within the congregations, they all passed by very significant margins.

Now the question of who owns the church property has gone to the courts. And while Scripture warns Christians of taking one another to such a location, the accumulated wealth in church facilities, combined with the current culture’s inclination to litigate, makes this tragic course appear inevitable.

Nonetheless, it is a little surprising that so many other denominations have felt obligated to rush to join the litigation.

Denominations having submitted or signed on to amicus briefs on behalf of the Episcopal Church include the United Methodist Church, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Seventh-Day Adventists, the Worldwide Church of God, and local synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. There are also a number of United Methodist bishops, local dioceses, conferences, or presbyteries, and leaders like the General Secretary of the Presbyterian Church (USA) Clifton Kirkpatrick that have also offered their support to the Episcopal Church establishment.

What would draw so many denominations together? The case centers on a Civil War-era statute in Virginia law, 57-9(A), that allows for congregations in the midst of a division within a church or religious body to determine with which branch they chose to associate themselves through a majority vote of the congregation. In April, the court recognized that the seven Virginia churches were both a part of the Episcopal Church and also the larger Anglican Communion, and had the right to attach themselves to CANA. The court is now considering constitutional issues surrounding the original law.

It was at this point that other denominations joined the fray, concerned that the hierarchical nature of their denominations will be undermined if individual congregations were given the freedom to decide with whom they want to align. Many of these denominations say that the building does not belong to the congregation but the congregation simply holds it in trust for the denomination.

In a motion for leave to join the original amici brief, officials representing the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Church of the Brethren expressed “an obvious interest” in the court’s decision, claiming that the Virginia statute “utterly disregards ‘the result indicated by the parties,’ and opts instead for an irrebuttable rule that a congregational majority will always control the outcome.”  The Virginia and Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America also joined the motion for leave “in order to emphasize and protect the integrity of ecclesiastical voting procedures that were designed precisely to apply when local church members wish to disaffiliate and retain the church property.”

Perhaps there is reason these denominations should be concerned. Denominations like the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), United Methodist Church, and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America regularly vote on—but at least for now have primarily denied—increasing acceptance of homosexual behavior. Maybe they are looking down the line, foreseeing a time when many of their own congregations may leave the denomination if there is a change in church policy on matters such as homosexuality. Having seen what is occurring within the Episcopal Church, perhaps these denominations have resolved to never let this become an issue in their own churches. Such an approach would appear to be wishful thinking at best, as many congregations would be unlikely to allow a church to strong-arm them into a course of action they find contrary to God’s will.

In an April 24 statement, the Diocese of Virginia stated, “When the CANA congregations voted to leave the Episcopal Church in protest, they abandoned their Episcopal brothers and sisters of the past, the present and the future.” Many individuals, and I am sure the CANA congregations, would say just the opposite. It has been the recent actions of the Episcopal Church that have abandoned 2,000 years of Christian teaching, and in doing so abandoned generations of Episcopalians that came before them.

The CANA congregations see themselves as preserving the investments and intentions of the saints that came before them. It is a sad statement that denominations that still officially retain an orthodox position on matters like homosexuality and scriptural authority are not standing up in defense of local churches, but rather are willing to sacrifice doctrinal integrity in an attempt to maintain institutional control.