Savannah congregation that revolted over gay bishop must forfeit 18th century building

From a summary issued this morning:


Christ Church was founded in 1733, when English General James Oglethorpe designated the land on which the church stands as a place of worship. The church received title to the building by land grants from the royal government in 1758 and post-Revolution state legislature in 1789. In 1823, Christ Church co-founded the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia and formally joined the national Episcopal Church.

In 2007, after the national Episcopal Church affirmed its first openly gay bishop in New Hampsire, 87 percent of the Savannah congregation voted to cut off its affiliation with the Georgia Diocese and join an Anglican diocese in Uganda.

The Georgia Bishop recognized the minority faction, including its rector, wardens and vestry, as the rightful leaders of Christ Church who named themselves “Christ Church Episcopal.” However, the majority faction, which called themselves “Christ Church in Savannah,” refused to give up the property.

The Georgia Diocese and national Episcopal Church then sued the local congregation, seeking a court declaration that the church’s historic building and property on Bull Street, worth nearly $3 million, as well as three other parcels of property titled in the name of Christ Church, were held in trust for the benefit of the national church.

http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insider-jim-galloway/2011/11/21/savannah-congregation-that-revolted-over-gay-bishop-must-give-up-18th-century-building/

Read the comments about the article on the site. I was pleasantly surprised by the majority of them.

A decision in VA went the other way, with the breakaway group keeping the church and property (worth several million $$)

The Episcopal Church has a strong top down structure so that is a surprise. Is it on appeal?

I'm very sorry to see it leave the Episcopal church and unite with the homo-haters of Uganda

The bigots who left to align themselves with the bigots in Uganda don't get to take the building or any of its assets. They lost.

Makes me feel much better about the whole situation.