By Rick Hiebert. All Right Reserved. Used By Permission.
The largest church affected by the B.C. Court of Appeal decision that said that the local diocese leadership Anglican Church of Canada retains control of their buildings should they choose to leave the denomination, has appearently, I am told, decided to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada.
St. John’s Shaughnessy Church in Vancouver has sided with the conservatively-inclined churches in a theological dispute with the local, more liberal, bishop of the ACoC, Michael Ingham. As the court’s ruling stands, congregants are free to leave the ACOC, but they must leave the building behind too.
Members of St. John’s, a congregant told me, see this as unfair, reasoning that it is their tithes and offerings that pay for the building’s upkeep–if not its original construction in the first place. They fear that Ingham will change the locks on andy dissident church and appoint new leadership for the church, when its congregation likes the leaders that it has.
Why St. John’s? Well, I am led to understand that the current church leadership feels an obligation to do so, to assist other churches that may not have the money or resources to follow this up.
The Supreme Court of Canada may or may not decide to hear the appeal. St. John’s retains their “Plan B” if the court decides to let the lower decision stand.
A lot depends upon the fine print on the ownership of the building. If it’s owned by the Anglican Church as a whole, then the renegade conservatives are stuck meeting in a middle-school gym for a while; if the title is in the name of the congregation, then they would likely get to keep it.
At least that’s what the pattern has been when similar cases have been litigated in the US, and Canada has a similar legal system with a common root in English common law.
God moves in middle-school gyms, too. Probably more so than in an old-brick sanctuary,
St John’s Shaughnessy was inducted in 1923 incorporated in 1936
What does this mean?
I was told that back in 1923 they’d asked the diocese for property and the diocese replied you’re all on your own
So, they bought the property on Granville & Nanton Ave
The depression came about but they still kept paying the mortgage
In 1936 the mortgage was payed off
The Parish of St John’s Shaughnessy LTD was formed is a Corporation
With the Incorporation process a deed was formed with names on the deed
There are around 80 parishes in the diocese of new westminister and around 7 have deeds