(help)
All Saints sends bishop away without keys
by Douglas LeBlanc
IRONDEQUOIT, N.Y. — For the second consecutive day, All Saints Protestant Episcopal Church gave Bishop Jack McKelvey less than he had ordered in a letter to the parish’s rector, David Harnish.
In a letter dated Nov. 15, McKelvey informed Harnish and the parish’s wardens that he intended to conduct services on Sunday the 20th and to receive the keys and assets of the church on Monday the 21st.
McKelvey told reporters on Sunday that the timetable was uncertain on how the diocese would proceed with All Saints. “It’s too soon right now to say what the next steps will be,” he said in Monday’s edition of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
McKelvey’s letter indicates, however, what the bishop had ordered for Monday morning: A compliant transfer of All Saints’ property and assets to the diocese.
“Canon Karen Hanson and I will be at All Saints Protestant Episcopal Church on Monday morning, November 21[,] at 10 A.M. to receive the keys to the doors, the official registers of the church, and to take possession of the building,” McKelvey wrote. “I fully expect that you or your designee(s) will be there to meet us.”
The parish chose attorney Raymond Dague, who is helping the Anglican Communion Network defend All Saints, as its designee. On Sunday, Dague had warned the bishop that if he interrupted that morning’s Eucharist he would be charged with trespassing.
The religion writer for the Democrat and Chronicle and news crews from Rochester TV stations also awaited the bishop’s arrival.
When McKelvey drove up shortly after 10 he was accompanied, as he promised, by Karen Hanson, the diocese’s canon for finance, resource and community development. Philip Fileri, the diocesan chancellor, and the Rev. Carolyn Lumbard, canon for congregational development and communications, also arrived with the bishop.
In the small asphalt parking strip across the front of the church, Dague strode toward Fileri and the bishop and shook their hands.
Then McKelvey, Hanson and Lumbard stood silent as Fileri and Dague began a gentlemanly battle of legal wits.
Dague said that because the diocesan convention had declared the parish extinct, McKelvey had forfeited his authority over the parish.
Fileri said the bishop and his companions had come to convey news of the convention’s vote to make All Saints extinct and to ask for the diocese’s rightful property. He asked if it would be possible to go inside to talk.
Dague said the parish had no intention of admitting diocesan officials into the building that day, or of surrendering the property at a later date.
Fileri alluded to the Episcopal Church’s Dennis Canon, which asserts that all dioceses hold parish property in trust for the broader church.
Dague responded that the Dennis Canon does not apply to a parish like All Saints, which has been ejected from the diocese — and declared extinct — against its will.
Fileri said All Saints chose to leave when it refused to pay its apportionment for 2005.
“At this point there’s nothing to be gained from hearing your opening argument for the court,” Fileri told Dague.
They agreed to exchange business cards, and Fileri said he would be in touch.
Fileri and McKelvey briefly took questions from reporters. Then McKelvey’s three-vehicle entourage drove away from All Saints, their pockets no heavier than when they arrived.