Break-away Pawleys Island Episcopal congregation wins big case in SC Supreme Court
Break-away Pawleys Island Episcopal congregation wins big case in SC Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of South Carolina delivered on Friday a unanimous decision in the oldest still-pending court dispute involving the application of the Dennis Canon of The Episcopal Church (TEC) to a parish’s property. In a wide-ranging decision involving All Saints Parish Church, Waccamaw, which serves the Pawleys Island area, the court held that All Saints Parish Church, Waccamaw, is an independent congregation and the true owner of its property outside the jurisdiction of The Episcopal Church. The property includes the original parish church which is more than 200 years old.
The key language of the SC Supreme Court in the All Saints case is as follows:
We hold that title to the property at issue is held by All Saints Parish, Waccamaw, Inc., the Dennis Canons had no legal effect on the title to the congregation’s property, and the 2000 Notice should be removed from the Georgetown County records.
We find that the Articles of Amendment were lawfully adopted and effectively severed the corporation’s legal ties to the ECUSA and the Diocese. Therefore, we find that the members of the majority vestry are the true officers of All Saints Parish, Waccamaw, Inc.
All Saints Parish Waccamaw was established by the Colonial Assembly of South Carolina in 1767. George Pawley and William Poole purchased 50 acres of land from Percival Pawley in 1745 to be used for the building of a parish of the Church of England. The name Waccamaw comes from a local tribe of Indians who inhabitated the area prior to 1730. Their arrowheads and jewelry were found along the Waccamaw River and are on display in local museums.
According to Wikipedia, the Dennis Canon is named after the attorney and later Suffragan Bishop of New York Walter Dennis, who drafted it. It was passed by the Episcopal Church’s 66th General Convention in 1979.
The Dennis Canon purports to codify an assumed trust relationship TEC claims regarding property held by parishes. The parishes, through their vestries, are supposedly trustees of the property for the benefit of their local dioceses and the national Episcopal Church.
If the Dennis Canon is assumed to be valid, a vestry could be accused in civil court of breaching its fiduciary trust if it transfers property to another ecclesiastical jurisdiction, such as happened in the Waccamaw situation.
Adoption of the Dennis Canon followed the turbulent 1960s and 1970s, when parishes left the Episcopal Church and attempted to retain the parish property for reasons including the admission of women to Holy Orders, the adoption of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, and the belief that some bishops held heretical views.
In recent years, TEC has been embroiled in a variety of theological disputes concerning its doctrine, discipline, and worship. Because of these disputes, parishes and entire dioceses have left the Episcopal Church bringing with them the property and assets owned by their congregations and dioceses. State and federal appellate courts are deeply divided over the legitimacy and applicability of the Dennis Canon and the existence of a trust relationship on behalf of the Episcopal Church.
The SC Supreme Court’s decision is a strike against the Dennis Canon and against TEC’s claim that it can prevent an Episcopal congregation from severing its ties with the national church and the diocese.
Click here to read the decision of the SC Supreme Court.
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