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Mediation unsuccessful; Parishes and Diocese of New Westminster head for trial on May 25 over church property |
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15 May 2009
After one and a half days of mediation with Chief Justice Donald Brenner acting as the mediator, the Diocese of New Westminster and four Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC) parishes – St John’s (Shaughnessy), St Matthias and St Luke, and Church of the Good Shepherd in Vancouver, and St Matthews in Abbotsford – failed to reach an agreement. The dispute over church properties will now proceed to trial in the BC Supreme Court commencing May 25.
On January 6, 2009, the parties appeared before Chief Justice Brenner requesting an expedited trial process and permission was granted. To reduce the time for trial and pre-trial procedures, they agreed to exchange most of their evidence by affidavits and cross-examine a number of witnesses before the trial. The trial begins May 25 and is set for three weeks.
Earlier this year, the ANiC parishes served a “Notice to Mediate” on the Diocese of New Westminster. The mediation was scheduled for two full days (May 14 and 15) but by noon today, an impasse was reached.
“We are very disappointed a settlement could not be reached”, said Cheryl Chang, Chancellor of ANiC. “We were really hoping we could achieve a peaceful, mutually beneficial resolution of the matters in dispute.”
This dispute arises from the current divide in the global Anglican Communion over profound theological differences. The Anglican Church of Canada’s (ACoC) Primates’ Theological Commission, in its recent “Galilee Report” acknowledged the division among the ACoC’s own theologians, reflecting the division in the broader Anglican Church. The report said, “We are not of one mind among ourselves”. Similarly, the recent meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council – one of the “Instruments of Unity” in the global Anglican Communion – demonstrated the depth of the division.
In light of this division in Anglicanism, the court will determine who the proper beneficiaries are of the trust over the church property of these four parishes – the diocese or the congregations which bought, paid for, renovated and maintained their church buildings, and who wish to continue upholding established Anglican teaching along with the majority of global Anglicans.
Additional background information is available here.
Today, ANiC numbers 29 parishes, three bishops, 73 priests and deacons and 3500 Canadians in church on an average Sunday. Members of the Anglican Network in Canada are committed to remaining faithful to Holy Scripture and established Anglican doctrine and to ensuring that orthodox Canadian Anglicans are able to remain in full communion with their Anglican brothers and sisters around the world.
ANiC is under the Episcopal authority of Bishop Donald Harvey, who is under the jurisdiction of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone – one of the 38 Provinces in the global Anglican Communion – which encompasses much of South America and includes Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay and Argentina. The Anglican Church of Canada is also one of these 38 Provinces.
Archbishop Gregory Venables, Primate of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, has responded to the need of Biblically faithful Canadian Anglicans for spiritual protection and care on an emergency and interim basis – pending a resolution to the crisis in the worldwide Anglican Communion.
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