TOWARD A RESOLUTION

Part XII

(First posted on Jan. 28, 2018).
This is the twelfth part of our series "Toward a Resolution" of the schism in South Carolina. See Part I, Jan. 5 for the introduction and list of questions. Today we address Question Number 11 on out list:

WHAT HAPPENS TO THE PARISH PROPERTY AFTER THE PARISH RETURNS TO THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH?

[Reminder. This blog is offered as personal opinion only. The author is not officially related to a diocese.]

There has been a good deal of confusion and misinformation about property ownership and control before, during, and after the schism. DSC leaders seem to want their people in the parishes to believe they own their own property as long as they are away from the Episcopal Church but will lose the property if the parish is part of the Episcopal Church. In their FAQs they even implied that the Episcopal bishop is likely to sell off the parish properties to Muslims.

To understand the Episcopal Church and property we must return to the Dennis Canon. Find a description of it here . A canon is a church law. The Dennis Canon was adopted by the Episcopal Church in 1979 and has been church law ever since. DSC explicitly acceded to it from 1987 to 2010. The Dennis Canon says:

All real and personal property held by or for the benefit of any Parish, Mission, or Congregation is held in trust for this Church and the Diocese thereof in which such Parish, Mission, or Congregation is located. The existence of this trust, however, shall in no way limit the power and authority of the Parish, Mission, or Congregation otherwise existing over such property so long as the particular Parish, Mission, or Congregation remains a part of, and subject to, this Church and its Constitution and Canons.

The Dennis Canon has two parts. In the first, two beneficiaries are set up over the parish properties, the Episcopal Church and the Church diocese. The second part says the local parish may retain ownership of the property as long as it stays in the Episcopal Church.

Two points should be emphasized here. First, the local parish may be the actual owner of the property and hold the deed. The diocese and the national church do not actually own the property. As beneficiaries of the trust they have certain rights over the property. Ownership and trust are not the same things. What this means in practical terms is that the parish owns the property as long as it stays in the Episcopal Church but cannot sell or alienate the property without permission of the trust beneficiaries, the diocese and the church. Thus, it is not true to say that the diocese, or the Episcopal Church, owns the parish property. The parish always owns the property. What the diocese and church have is control bestowed by right of a trust. The parish is limited in what it can do with the property by virtue of the trusteeship. It is not a question of ownership. It is a question of control.

What happens to the parishes once they return to the Episcopal Church is essentially up to the Church bishop and constituted diocesan authorities. Presumably, if there is a self-sustaining congregation in the parish, it would go on as before. The parish clergy would have to decide whether to remain and return to the Episcopal Church or leave. If there are not enough parishioners remaining to maintain a self-sustaining parish, the diocese would have to decide what arrangements to make, as moving to mission status.

Perhaps all of the larger parishes among the 29 will retain congregations large enough to support parish status. Some of the smaller ones may not. The diocesan authorities would have to work out arrangements for all of the local churches.

It is not right to assume the Episcopal Church bishop would sell off properties that are not self-sustaining. Across the country, bishops have made a wide array of arrangements for the local properties. 

Short answer:

Nothing will really change for the parish property after the parish returns to the Episcopal Church. The parish will continue to own the property and will use it as before. The Church and diocese will continue as beneficiaries of the trust, just as they had been for many years before the schism. There was no problem then. There should be none in future.