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EL PASO, TX: What would St. Francis do?
By Timothy Roberts
http://elpasoinc.com/readArticle.aspx?issueid=275&xrec=5010
March 9, 2010
A peaceful churchyard atop a hill in West El Paso belies the trouble that lies below the surface.
The church is named for St. Francis, the 13th-century saint who sought to be an instrument of God's peace. But this congregation, the parish of St. Francis on the Hill Church, is hardly at peace as it waits to find out its future.
Two years ago, the parish of St. Francis voted to leave the Episcopal Church, but said it intended to remain right where it was - on the hill overlooking El Paso's Westside. The parish also changed its name, from St. Francis Episcopal Church to St. Francis Anglican.
And to head off efforts by the denomination to evict them, members took the unusual step of suing the national church and the regional diocese, the Diocese of the Rio Grande, based in Albuquerque, N.M.
Since then St. Francis and the Episcopal Church have been battling it out in the 210th Judicial Court before Judge Gonzalo Garcia.
On Feb. 10, St. Francis Church lost the first round in its legal fight to stay in the church complex on Los Robles Drive when Garcia ruled in favor of the Episcopal denomination and the Rio Grande Diocese.
But St. Francis is in no immediate danger of eviction. The two sides are working out an agreement that would let the St. Francis parish remain in the church property, at least until the conclusion of an appeal to the Texas 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in El Paso.
"We are certainly not going to tell them to move out," said Canon Colin Kelly, who serves as the president of the Standing Committee of the diocese. The diocese is searching for a new bishop, and the committee makes administrative decisions in the meantime. The diocese expects to elect a new bishop April 24 at a gathering at the cathedral in Albuquerque, N.M.
"At some point we will want to have occupancy, but we are sensitive to their feelings and thoughts," Kelly said.
"We were disappointed," said Ron Munden, who is senior warden at St. Francis Church, the parish's highest lay position. "But we knew one way or another it would go to the appellate court. We have agreed with the Episcopal Church to continue to worship in our facility."
The attorney for St. Francis Anglican, Richard Munzinger, said the church would appeal the ruling. Munden said the church would file its appeal as soon as this week.
Franchise fight At the heart of the matter was whether the local church had been founded to further the mission of the larger Episcopal denomination or if it was solely a local entity.
"Can the Episcopal Church trample on the rights of Texas?" asked St. Francis attorney Richard Munzinger during a Sept. 17 hearing.
Munzinger argued that the court should look at St. Francis as a non-profit Texas corporation that could change its affiliation as it chose.
Munden compared the arrangement to a commercial franchise.
"It would be as though we joined McDonald's (restaurants) and McDonald's decided to sell fish instead of hamburgers and we don't want to sell fish," he said. "So we dissolve the relationship."
But the Episcopal Church argued in its claim that the local church was founded as an Episcopal church and is subject to the denomination's constitution.
"Parishes cannot unilaterally withdraw from their dioceses or the Episcopal Church," the denomination argued.
It is not an issue of religious freedom, says William Juvrud, attorney for the diocese.
"If you have people who want to leave and worship under another guise, they are welcome to do that," he said. "They just can't take the property with them."
St. Francis Church isn't the only parish caught in a property battle.
Across the country, a number of Episcopal parishes and a few dioceses have left the Episcopal Church in recent years over views on biblical interpretation. Two of the biggest issues have been the role of women in the church and the acceptance of gay people.
In November 2008, the entire Diocese of Fort Worth voted to leave the Episcopal denomination, but to keep the churches and other properties. It's one of the largest defections from the Episcopal Church.
In April the Episcopal Church sued the Fort Worth diocese to regain control. That lawsuit is pending in Tarrant County District Court.
Elsewhere, the Diocese of San Joaquin in California's Central Valley and the Diocese of Pittsburgh have also withdrawn.
Local churches or parishes have also voted to leave. St. Clements in El Paso is one of five parishes in the Rio Grande Diocese that voted to depart. That parish paid the diocese $2 million, well below the value of the large and historic church in Downtown El Paso. The St. Francis property is valued by the Central Appraisal District at $2.01 million.
Both sides in the St. Francis case expect the final word on the issue will come from the Texas Supreme Court, which could consolidate the St. Francis, Fort Worth and other cases if they are appealed from the Court of Appeals.
The disagreement has taken a toll on the parish. The parish roll showed 400 members in January 2007, the last record the diocese has for St. Francis. There are now 374 members, and that's up about 30 percent over the last year and half, said Rev. Felix Orji, the rector of St. Francis.
"A lot of younger families have joined us recently," Orji said. "Before, our congregation was aging."
Not all the members of St. Francis wanted to part ways with the Episcopal Church. After the split, about 30 of them began meeting at Temple Mount Sinai on North Stanton Street, which has made its chapel available to them on Sundays. There are now 45 members.
"Our responsibility is just to continue to be the church," said Rev. Kathleene McNellis, who serves as vicar to the small parish. "That is our focus."
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