TOWARD A RESOLUTION
Part VII
(First posted on Jan. 17, 2018).
This is the seventh part of our series called "Toward a Resolution" in which we are addressing important questions of the schism in South Carolina. Today we turn to question Number 6 on our list (see Part 1, Jan. 5):
This is the seventh part of our series called "Toward a Resolution" in which we are addressing important questions of the schism in South Carolina. Today we turn to question Number 6 on our list (see Part 1, Jan. 5):
WAS THE DIOCESE OF SOUTH CAROLINA RIGHT TO ISSUE THE QUIT CLAIM DEEDS?
In November of 2011, Bishop Lawrence announced he had sent out quit claim deeds to all of the parishes of the diocese of South Carolina. The next year, the Disciplinary Board for Bishops opened a new investigation of Lawrence to determine if he had abandoned the communion of the Episcopal Church. The main charge against him was his issuance of the quit claim deeds. After an examination of the evidence, the DBB resolved by majority vote that Lawrence had indeed abandoned the church by willfully violating the laws of the church. This forced the Presiding Bishop to place a restriction on him. As we have already seen, the restriction prompted a hidden resolution that produced DSC's self-declared disaffiliation from TEC on Oct. 15, 2012.
The question at hand is whether the diocese was right to issue the deeds.
First, what is a quit claim deed? It is a legal document that transfers ("quits") any and all claims the grantor may have on the property to the grantee. The grantor in this case was the DSC and the grantees were the parishes. By giving these, DSC relinquished any claim it may have had to the parish properties.
What claims might DSC have had? The Dennis Canon was adopted by the Episcopal Church in 1979. It said that all local, i.e., parish, properties, even if owned by deed, were held in trust for the Episcopal Church and the local diocese. This established two beneficiaries over the local properties, church and diocese. What this really meant in practical terms was that a parish could not sell, or alienate, any of its property without permission of the church and the diocese. The point was to keep parishes from leaving the Episcopal Church and taking their properties with them. If people left the church, they would have to leave the buildings. DSC officially adopted the Dennis Canon in 1987 and resolved to revoke it in 2010.
The DSC leaders tried to justify the issuance of the quit claim deeds by citing the SC supreme court's All Saints decision of September 2009. The justices said that under SC law, the deed holder (trustee) must create a trust for the beneficiarie(s). A trust cannot be imposed from the outside. Thus, if the parish had not explicitly named the church and diocese as beneficiaries, they could not be considered as such under state law. As it turned out, the diocese had once granted a quit claim deed to the parish and the parish had never set up a trust for the diocese. The court ruled that All Saints owned the property outright.
At the time DSC issued the quit claim deeds, the diocesan convention had already voted to withdraw DSC's accession to the canons of the Episcopal Church. Church officials said DSC did not have that right because all dioceses are required to give accession to the constitution and canons of the Episcopal Church. The DSC leaders countered that this rule applied only to dioceses that joined later and did not apply to the original dioceses such as SC. In their thinking, SC was not bound by the constitution and canons. In fact, the understanding before the creation of the C and C in 1789 was that the delegates from the nine states at hand would adopt the C and C for the states simply by signing them. The SC delegates signed all of the documents in 1789. The C and C automatically went into effect in the nine states and did not have to be ratified separately by the local states. There was no provision in the 1789 C and C for a state (diocese) to ignore or discard the canons or withdraw from the church.
In the Church view, DSC had no right to issue the quit claim deeds because DSC had no right to revoke its accession to the canons of the Church. Church leaders declared the DSC resolutions to revoke accession to the canons to be null and void, that is, meaningless.
It seems to me the Dennis Canon has two separate beneficiaries, the Episcopal Church and the diocese. They are not one in the same. In fact, soon after the All Saints decision, the Presiding Bishop attempted to protect the Church's interest through the lawyer Thomas Tisdale. However, DSC refused to cooperate and blocked all efforts of Tisdale to gather the information he needed to proceed.
There were two beneficiaries named in the Dennis Canon, the church and the diocese. Thus, there were two problems. On one hand, the church could not exercise its trust interest since it was blocked by the DSC authorities. On the other, DSC declared it did not have to abide by the Dennis Canon, even to recognize it. DSC said it removed the Canon in 2010. TEC authorities said DSC did not remove the Canon, could not remove it at any time.
Shorter answer:
No, DSC did not have the right to give out the quit claim deeds as it did before the schism. DSC had given unqualified accession to the TEC Constitution and Canons in 1789 (and reaffirmed many times). This could not be revoked unilaterally. DSC was bound by the Dennis Canon. It did not have the right to discard the Canon. The South Carolina supreme court said that 29 of the 35 parishes in question had created trusts by acceded to the Dennis Canon and could not revoke this on their own. Thus the 29 were under the terms of the Dennis Canon, that is, under beneficiary control of the Episcopal Church and the Church diocese. Even if they held the actual deeds to the properties, the parishes held them in trust for the Church and its diocese.
Shortest answer:
DSC did not have the right to issue the quit claim deeds.
At the time DSC issued the quit claim deeds, the diocesan convention had already voted to withdraw DSC's accession to the canons of the Episcopal Church. Church officials said DSC did not have that right because all dioceses are required to give accession to the constitution and canons of the Episcopal Church. The DSC leaders countered that this rule applied only to dioceses that joined later and did not apply to the original dioceses such as SC. In their thinking, SC was not bound by the constitution and canons. In fact, the understanding before the creation of the C and C in 1789 was that the delegates from the nine states at hand would adopt the C and C for the states simply by signing them. The SC delegates signed all of the documents in 1789. The C and C automatically went into effect in the nine states and did not have to be ratified separately by the local states. There was no provision in the 1789 C and C for a state (diocese) to ignore or discard the canons or withdraw from the church.
In the Church view, DSC had no right to issue the quit claim deeds because DSC had no right to revoke its accession to the canons of the Church. Church leaders declared the DSC resolutions to revoke accession to the canons to be null and void, that is, meaningless.
It seems to me the Dennis Canon has two separate beneficiaries, the Episcopal Church and the diocese. They are not one in the same. In fact, soon after the All Saints decision, the Presiding Bishop attempted to protect the Church's interest through the lawyer Thomas Tisdale. However, DSC refused to cooperate and blocked all efforts of Tisdale to gather the information he needed to proceed.
There were two beneficiaries named in the Dennis Canon, the church and the diocese. Thus, there were two problems. On one hand, the church could not exercise its trust interest since it was blocked by the DSC authorities. On the other, DSC declared it did not have to abide by the Dennis Canon, even to recognize it. DSC said it removed the Canon in 2010. TEC authorities said DSC did not remove the Canon, could not remove it at any time.
Shorter answer:
No, DSC did not have the right to give out the quit claim deeds as it did before the schism. DSC had given unqualified accession to the TEC Constitution and Canons in 1789 (and reaffirmed many times). This could not be revoked unilaterally. DSC was bound by the Dennis Canon. It did not have the right to discard the Canon. The South Carolina supreme court said that 29 of the 35 parishes in question had created trusts by acceded to the Dennis Canon and could not revoke this on their own. Thus the 29 were under the terms of the Dennis Canon, that is, under beneficiary control of the Episcopal Church and the Church diocese. Even if they held the actual deeds to the properties, the parishes held them in trust for the Church and its diocese.
Shortest answer:
DSC did not have the right to issue the quit claim deeds.
