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Analysis of the Diocese of Pittburgh/Calvary Church Lawsuit Settlement
by Brad Drell
Here is my analysis of this document:
The First Paragraph says that property will continue to be held by the Diocese, even if some or a majority of parishes leave the Episcopal Church. What they seem to be missing is what if the Diocese leaves the Episcopal Church...the Diocese would appear to keep the property. Hmm.
That is much different from: "Otherwise put, this means that in the event that some congregations leave ECUSA, the remaining congregations (however few in number) would be the ones entitled to use of both real property, e.g. Calvary Camp, and personal Diocesan property, e.g. endowment funds." In my analysis of the Calvary newsletter, I thought this statement was suspect. It is. They must be missing the handwriting on the wall about the whole Diocese voting to disaffiliate with ECUSA if it comes down to that. But, oh well.
The second paragraph just says everyone agreed to mediate before going to court if Calvary or any other church that wants to leave the Diocese of Pittsburgh. Not a big deal. It is all window dressing, because the process is voluntary, litigation is available.
Paragraph 3 lets Calvary withdraw from the ACN. No big loss.
Paragraph 4 changes nothing. As I noted earlier, "The resolution had no effect vis-a-vis the Dennis Canon anyway, so this was a gimme."
Paragraph 5 - the liberals actually read the resolution on ecclesial matters, and finally agreed that it only related to ecclesial matters. Hoorah for reading.
Paragraph 6 - The Diocese got $50,000, out of what I believe was $200,000. I wonder if Calvary will send the $150,000 to ECUSA?
Paragraph 7 - No one admits they've done anything wrong - typical settlement stuff.
Paragraph 8 - Calvary still wants to sue the Diocese for Attorneys fees. So much for "reconciliation" from the liberal side. So much for the biblical prohibition on suing other Christians.
If only Drew Smith and Skip Adams were as nice as Bob Duncan...but, that is the problem. Folks that follow Jesus have a hard time being as mean as those that persecute them. A big victory for the liberals? Hardly, and its long term impact will only benefit conservatives.
Mr. Drell is an orthodox Episcopal layman and attorney in the Diocese of Louisiana.You can view Mr. Drell's blog here: http://descant.classicalanglican.net/?p=846
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