Episcopal Church sells property to breakaway diocese as legal battle winds down
The Episcopal Church has agreed to sell church property in South Carolina to a breakaway Anglican diocese that it won in litigation following conversations with those who use the worship space.
Bishop Ruth Woodliff-Stanley of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina announced last week that she and the Standing Committee will allow the Anglican Church in North America to buy the property of St. Matthew's Church of Fort Motte in rural Calhoun County.
The property was one of 14 church properties awarded to the Episcopal Church in April by the South Carolina Supreme Court, a number later reduced to eight. However, Woodliff-Stanley said "the number of people who would hope to have an Episcopal presence" at the Fort Motte property "is extremely small."
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"[W]e recognize that, without a seed congregation ready to reopen as an Episcopal church, the displacement of the ACNA congregation would undermine the healing we seek to foster in this particular community," stated the bishop.
"Our choice to allow the ACNA congregation at St. Matthew's to buy this property provides us with resources that may be used to plant a new church that, in time and God willing, can bring strength and gifts to the benefit of the Episcopalians resident in that area and in the entire diocese."
The bishop said it "was not an easy decision" but "provides the best opportunity for the health and future of our diocese."
In November 2012, the leadership of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina voted to leave The Episcopal Church due to the denomination's increasing acceptance of homosexuality and the alleged mistreatment of their bishop at the time, the Rev. Mark Lawrence.
Litigation ensued in January 2013 over who rightfully owned the estimated $500 million in church properties, as well as claims over diocesan trademarks. Both sides scored legal victories over the years.
The two sides reached a settlement in September after the state court's ruling. Woodliff-Stanley acknowledged that "each diocese has had to leave things on the table to get to this moment" and "experience pain over losses of some of the historic churches our members hold dear."
Anglican Bishop Chip Edgar said in a statement shared with The Christian Post earlier this year that the settlement "allows us to invest our diocesan energy, time, focus and resources in gospel ministry rather than litigation."
"While the losses we have experienced, including those of St. Christopher and several of our parish buildings are painful, I am grateful that the work we have done has brought an end to litigation between our dioceses."
The Anglican diocese has relinquished control of several church properties the court ruled belonged to the Episcopal Church. As some property transfers have been completed, Episcopalians began worshiping in some of those properties in August.
Jason Varnadore of the Anglican congregation that left St. David's in Cheraw expressed sadness and relief because the congregation struggled to support the building financially.
"The rent we're paying now is cheaper than the mortgage-free maintenance bill we paid on our building every month," said Varnadore, as reported by the Anglican diocese.
"Wesley United Methodist Church, an historically African American church, generously signed over a lease to let us use their property. The PCA minister in town said, 'If you need any office space, you let me know. You can have it.' So, we have really nice offices over at Faith Presbyterian in town."
