Newsline: Virlina District joins friend-of-the-court brief on church property

[COBNews Newsline]

Newsline: Church of the Brethren News Service -- June 5, 2008
Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, News Director
800-323-8039 ext. 260 -- cobnews at brethren.org

VIRLINA DISTRICT OF THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN JOINS
FRIEND-OF-THE-COURT BRIEF ON CHURCH PROPERTY

(June 5, 2008) Elgin, IL -- The Church of the Brethren's Virlina District
has joined a "friend of the court" brief with other denominations,
concerning court cases in Virginia related to church property holdings. 

At issue is an 1867 law being used in Fairfax County, Va., to allow a
group to leave the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia with millions of dollars
worth of property. The friend-of-the-court brief from a number of other
Christian denominations and districts argues that the law is
unconstitutional.

The Virlina District board made the decision to join the friend-of-the-
court brief on May 10. The issue was referred to the district by the
Virginia Council of Churches.

If the Fairfax County court upholds the law, it will set a precedent for the
whole state of Virginia, according to Virlina District executive minister
David Shumate. Three other Church of the Brethren districts with
congregations in Virginia--Shenandoah District, Southeastern District,
and Mid-Atlantic District--will be affected along with Virlina.

The case could have implications for Church of the Brethren
congregations in Virginia because under Church of the Brethren
denominational polity, the property of congregations is held in trust for
the use and benefit of the denomination.

The Church of the Brethren Annual Conference Polity Manual states,
"That if the property ever ceases to be used in accordance with the
provisions set forth [in the polity manual], or in cases where the
congregation has been closed or the property abandoned, the district
conference may, upon recommendation of the district board, assert title
to the property and have the same vested in the district board, in trust, for
the district."

If a congregation attempts to leave the denomination, Church of the
Brethren polity states: "Any property that it may have shall be within the
control of the district board and may be held for the designated purposes
or sold or disposed of in such a manner as the district board, in its sole
discretion, may direct."

However the Virginia law in question--passed after the Civil War, during
a time of dissension in churches over slavery and North-South issues--
holds that when a denomination or congregation divides, the majority
can vote on who is the continuing congregation and who owns the
property, said Cathy Huffman, chair of the Virlina District Board.
"That's obviously not how we've done it" in the Church of the Brethren,
she said.

"The law that's being referred to in the cases in Fairfax County says it
doesn't matter what the church's polity is," Shumate explained. 

The friend-of-the-court brief contends that the law is unconstitutional in
that it inserts the state into church relations, Huffman said. If the law is
upheld, "the state can potentially decide what is the church," she said.
"The denominations that filed the brief are interestingly diverse, but they
have the view that the church is larger than the congregation."

"It's never fun when you have a fight in the family," Huffman
commented. A recent conflict in a congregation in Virlina District has
been "a vivid example," she said. 

When the larger part of the congregation decided to leave, the
group that continued in relationship with the Church of the Brethren was
recognized by the district, even though it was smaller. The district board
was "very cautious to make sure we were following Church of the
Brethren polity," which made the current court case all the more
disconcerting, Huffman said.

Huffman emphasized that in making the decision to join the friend-of-
the-court brief, the district board was reminded by at least one member
that their intent is not to signal that the courts are the way to go in church
disputes.

In the 1970s when a Church of the Brethren congregation in Botetourt
County, Va., tried to leave the denomination, the courts awarded the
property to the district because the Church of the Brethren
denominational polity was so very clear, Shumate said. He summarized
the Church of the Brethren polity in a succinct sentence: "If you leave
the church, you leave everything behind."

The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to
continuing the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its
faith in community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and
Pietist faith traditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It
celebrates its 300th anniversary in 2008. It counts more than 125,000
members across the United States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and
sister churches in Nigeria, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and
India.

                     # # #

For more information contact:

Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
Director of News Services
Church of the Brethren General Board
1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120
800-323-8039 ext. 260
cobnews at brethren.org

**********************************************************
To receive Church of the Brethren news via an e-mail list serv, go to
http://listserver.emountain.net/mailman/listinfo/newsline