[Posted at bene Diction Blogs On, Jan 31, 2011]
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.