Choosing orthodoxy

On a Sunday in late April the fabric of the kneelers -- small stools meant for praying -- made creases on the knees of the congregants of The Falls Church, an Anglican congregation in Falls Church. Attendees mixed prayers for Japan, family members in Afghanistan battalions, and the peace of Jerusalem with prayers for an end to litigation. A small boy rose to his feet on the brick floor in the still white room and prayed that "the end of this lawsuit would be fair and just."

The lawsuit he's referring was back in Fairfax Circuit Court in April and is tentatively scheduled to resume today, June 1. It will be yet another step toward determining whether The Falls Church, with its 5,000 weekend attendees and members, and six other churches that left the Episcopal Church five years ago, can keep their property and buildings. Together, the churches' properties are worth an estimated $30-$40 million.

The lawsuit hinges on mundane legal niceties of Virginia real estate and contract law, but this is really about doctrine, and it goes far beyond Virginia. In a dispute mirrored across the country, seven dissident congregations in the state voted nearly five years ago to leave the Episcopal Church and realign as a conservative branch of the world-wide Anglican Church. The denomination sued to stop them.

The issue at hand was the 2003 consecration of Bishop Robinson, an openly gay bishop from New Hampshire. The deeper issue was the authority and interpretation of Scripture, and what some conservatives say is equivocation from Episcopal leadership on the divinity of Christ.

The Falls Church makes a point not only of being true to its convictions but also of passing them to the next generation. On this Sunday the youth group led the service. An assortment of young males with Beach Boy haircuts played worship songs on their guitars, erring into keys too high for the congregation. An older, suited man in the audience struggled patiently with the drums, and sang along: Our God is healer, awesome in power, his lips always a little behind the words. The congregation chuckled at the announcement that their rector, John Yates, is learning to text.

Jim Byrne, director of Student Ministries called forward everyone who has given 10 to 15 hours a week to invest with the young people, and those who responded filled the front of the sanctuary. Parents stretched their hands out in a prayer of gratitude for these people who have helped their children. During the message, the people attend as to a Cicero while Byrnes exhorts them to "take a young person under your wing between Sundays. Pass the truth on to others. This church is for teenagers too." He adds, "The ministry will go on."

But it's not clear that the ministry will continue at The Falls Church's current location, worth about $26 million. The Diocese of Virginia claims that the property is only entrusted to the congregations by the denomination. The Falls Church denies this, since the deeds are in the name of the church and the congregation paid for the property.

In 2008, Fairfax County Circuit Judge Randy Bellows ruled in favor of the breakaway congregations under a rarely used Virginia law dating to the Civil War governing the breakup of churches. But the Virginia Supreme Court overturned Bellow's ruling and told him to decide the case "under principles of real estate property and contract law."

Lawyers for The Episcopal Church, which has roughly 2 million members in the U.S., said during the April proceedings that the relevant contract is the one between the Episcopal Church and its congregations. Individual congregations agree to respect church hierarchy, lawyer Mary Kostel said, and the Episcopal denomination voted in 1979 that all church property held by local congregations is done so in trust for the national denomination.

Congregations that don't like the rules are not free to simply leave when they disagree with church policy or doctrine, she said.

Gordon Coffee, lawyer for the seven breakaway congregations, urged the judge to look at the property deeds. All of the deeds convey ownership to trustees at the individual congregations. None grants title to the larger denomination, Coffee said.

Dan and Toni Hill have attended The Falls Church since 1992. "It's a possibility we lose the land," Toni said, standing at her post in lipstick and pearls to welcome visitors, "but no one has felt that we're going to." The rector expressed a reliance on God's sovereignty: "I have absolute confidence that this case and its outcome are in God's dependable hands. He will guide and provide for us at each step."

Toni added that the church is overflowing because people are drawn by the faithful Bible teaching. "Sometimes Episcopals make the mistake of assuming that they wrote the Bible and are at liberty to rewrite it," she said.

Toni's husband was quiet, but behind his folded arms he nodded in agreement that the consecration of Bishop Robinson is not the only disruption in Episcopal relations; it is just the back-breaking straw. "It's a matter of Scriptural authority," he said.

The Falls Church, for which the city of Falls Church is named, traces its roots back to colonial times, when George Washington served as a vestryman. Washington kept a copy of Seneca's Moralsas a teenager. The Episcopal Church seems to be on a slippery slope doctrinally, and the members of the Falls Church seem to understand that, as Seneca said, "He that has lost one battle, hazards another."

Steven Law has attended The Falls Church and adhered to Episcopal doctrine for seven years. "There are way too many lawyers here," Law joked, noting that he himself has a history as a practicing lawyer. "It reflects the local environment, our gene pool. But they are all God-fearing and worshipful." Division has drawn The Falls Church together: "By grace, this dispute has created a deeper sense of community here. The standing up for truth attracts people." He admitted that if the dissident congregations are unsuccessful in court, there will be a big adjustment process, and that "the church is thinking through this contingency."

The breakaway congregations (and the Diocese) have spent millions of dollars in legal fees. The people passed the silver plate, littered with checks and twenties. Youth director Byrne reminded them to "Give freely, remembering an offering is an offering to the Lord Jesus." The people of The Falls Church are missions-minded and their foyer tables overflow with handmade goods from foreign countries. They pray that the kingdom of God would spread all over this country, and they are apparently willing to give their money not only to see the truth spread, but also to see it defended at home.

The Asssociated Press contributed to this report.

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