South Carolina Anglicans

Source:

A conservative breakaway Anglican diocese in the US has won a court battle to keep more than $500 million worth of church property.

The Episcopal Church (TEC) has no claim on the property of the Diocese of South Carolina or its churches, according to Circuit Court Judge Diane Goodstein.

She wrote in her decision this week that the conservative diocese and its parishes are “the owners of their real, personal and intellectual property” and that the national church has no legal interest in the properties.

The diocese and its 36 parishes, headed by Bishop Mark Lawrence, split from TEC in 2012 over theological issues including the long-running controversy over homosexual relationships, ordinations and consecrations. The diocese then went to court in order to safeguard the use of the diocesan name and in an attempt to keep its property and the three-week trial, with testimonies from more than 50 witnesses, took place last year.

Among the churches that went were historic parishes such as St Michael’s and St Philip’s in Charleston.