Virginia Episcopal Church Regains Property from Gay Haters

I've written about this topic before, but to me it continues to underscore the extreme animus towards gays - and modernity in general - that is pervasive among the self-anointed "godly Christian" set. What am I talking about? The Episcopal parishioners that tried to break away from the Episcopal Church USA - conveniently seizing all of the parish property in the process - and swore allegiance to fiercely anti-gay African Anglican bishops, one of who is suspected by some of having ordered the the massacre of 600 Muslims. It's sick and I would certainly argue "un-Christian" conduct, but that's what now passes for godliness amongst the gay haters. NPR looks at the retaking of church properties now that the break away parishioners have lost their battle to keep the property they sought to misappropriate. Here are some highlights:

Cerar, rector of St. Stephen's Anglican Church, is leaving, along with his congregation. They're handing the keys over to their theological rivals, the St. Stephen's Episcopal Church. Earlier this year, a judge ruled that seven conservative Virginia congregations that had split with the Episcopal Church must hand over almost everything they own.

In 2006, most of the St. Stephen's congregants voted to leave the American Episcopal Church after it elevated an openly gay man to be a bishop. They decided to affiliate with the Anglican Church in Nigeria instead, which bars gay clergy, and they renamed the congregation the St. Stephen's Anglican Church.

Virginia is the epicenter of the Episcopal schism. Heathsville is one of seven churches — including two of the largest and most historic in the country — that broke away from the denomination in 2006. Now that they've lost their lawsuit, they all have to find new homes.

Church of the Apostles is one of the seven breakaway churches. At its home in Fairfax, a half-dozen men wrestle with a 360-pound cross, panting as they remove it from its moorings in the sanctuary. Parishioner Wayne Marsh says the cross is going into storage and the church is being shuttered.

Within weeks, the Diocese of Virginia and the national Episcopal Church sued the Anglican churches. Initially, the judge in the case ruled in favor of the breakaway congregations, but after being reversed on appeal he awarded almost everything to the Episcopal Diocese.

Now, he says, his church owes the diocese about $1 million that was in its bank account in 2007. It has to hand over the land it bought to build a new sanctuary in the future and it's also relinquishing the building itself, which he estimates is worth more than $5 million. But unlike the situation in Heathsville, Harper says there is no congregation to take its place.

"I don't know what the diocese will do with the property, but we do not have a shadow congregation," he says. "There's no group from Church of the Apostles that want to come back and gratefully re-enter the building."

That means the building will most likely be sold, with the money going to the diocese. In recent years, breakaway church properties have been sold to Baptists, Presbyterians, Jews; one church in New York was sold to an Islamic awareness center. According to Jefferts Schori, the only people who can't buy the buildings are the Anglicans.

Henry Burt, chief of staff of the Diocese of Virginia, concedes that this internecine war isn't the best example of Christian love. "I don't know that 'unseemly' is a word I would use, but it is regrettable," he says. "It's also regrettably necessary. The diocese has had very little choice, frankly, as we've moved along this path."

Candidly, I cannot find any sympathy in my heart for the break away Anglicans. They defined themselves by their contempt for others and a rejection of modern knowledge about sexual orientation preferring to cling to a few passages authored by ignorant herders from over 2000 years ago. Meanwhile, of course, they (like evangelicals) utterly ignore the Bible admonitions against divorce. In my book, they got what they deserved.