On January 12, 2012, PNC filed a cross-motion for summary judgment in which it claims that diocesan officials are attempting to destroy the original intention of Ruth Gregory Soper as expressed in her carefully delineated will.

In legal papers, PNC attorneys state that the legal argument put forth by the diocese "boldly suggests" (9) a different intention of Mrs. Soper's than the ones written in the four corners of her will. They state that diocesan arguments amount to a "sleight of hand," a term used for card tricks and whose synonyms are deceit, deception, magic, and chicanery (see thesaurus.com). (22) PNC summarizes the Diocese of Washington's legal argument as a "fiction" intended to destroy the generous intentions of Mrs. Ruth Gregory Soper.

The Diocese of Washington began these court proceedings on October 8, 2010, in the US District Court of Maryland. With no other surviving beneficiaries to the Trust, the Diocese requested that the trust be taken away from the trustees at PNC bank. About $27 million was present in this Trust at the end of 2007 and by 2011 the Soper Trust Fund had about $23 million.

The Diocese appears to want the use of this remaining $23 million without the observation of the PNC bank officials, although in the lawsuit the diocesan officials state that they want to avoid PNC management fees. These PNC fees of about one hundred thousand annually seem fairly inconsequential for the handling of this large amount of money.

PNC says that the Diocesan argument that they would save the management fees is disingenuous because the Diocese itself uses LS Investment Advisors who also charge fees.

The Diocese does indeed use this investment firm for its other funds. For example, on October 14, 2011, a letter from LS Investment Advisors to Paul Cooney (Canon to the Ordinary for the Diocese of Washington) explained in detail the downward trend of many of the Diocese's stocks that LS Investment manages. The question arises why the Diocese of Washington wishes to dismiss PNC management and take over the managerial function for this Trust.

Under PNC management, the Soper Trust has continually grown and helped many nonprofits in the Washington D.C. area, including George Washington University and St. Alban's School.

Since its creation in the 1967 will, the Soper Trust Fund as used by the Diocese of Washington initially provided funds for church ministries, one example of which is funding low-income kids' summer camps.

Since the inception of its financial difficulties of 2002, the Diocese of Washington used the interest from the Soper Trust almost exclusively to maintain operating costs of the diocese. Because of its use for operating costs, PNC states that the diocese has "fallen short in complying with its policies governing" Mrs. Soper's funds. (9)

This has been a serious bone of contention at many diocesan meetings and when it is mentioned, arguments ensue about why this Trust is not used for ministries only. Now this hotly contested issue reaches beyond diocesan boundaries into the purview of the legal system. PNC quotes Paul Cooney's Declaration in which he acknowledged that currently "approximately one-third of the Diocese's annual operating budget" comes from the Soper Trust. (9)

DIOCESAN MELTDOWN

That the Diocese of Washington is in a serious meltdown is beyond dispute.

On 12-21-11 on the Diane Rehm show, Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde said that over 50 % of the parishes of the diocese are in decline. In a meeting at the Diocese of Washington on 11-11-11, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori responded to a question about declining membership numbers with a suggestion that the Episcopal Church could begin to include numbers from preschools and Alcoholic Anonymous meetings in official counts. The diocesan audit for year 2010 provides more evidence of this deterioration. Because of the declining revenues, the diocese has become increasingly dependent on the Soper Trust. PNC documents the history of the Diocese of Washington's use of the Soper Trust fund by pointing out that the diocese previously voted not to use the Trust money for day-to-day expenses.

On November 12, 2002 a resolution of Diocesan Council reaffirmed that they did not want to use this money as part of the operating budget. A PNC attorney wrote, "In fact, in 2002, the Bishop of the Diocese and the Diocesan Council reaffirmed their policy against using the income received from 'Mrs. Soper's generous and blessed legacy gift' to supplement the Diocese's annual operating budget." (10)

From 2003-2007 the Diocese nonetheless authorized the use of Soper funds with the "requirement that this use of the Trust income in the operating income was to 'permanently be replaced in the budget by increased giving by the people and churches of the Diocese and other sources.' That increased giving never occurred, and the Diocesan Council prohibition was subsequently revoked."(10)

After looking at the past use of the Soper Trust and the current financial difficulties of the diocese, the PNC attorney concludes, "Thus it is not difficult to imagine that in the future Diocese officials might conclude, as they did with respect to the Trust income, that use of Trust corpus is needed to meet the Diocese's financial needs to further funding shortfalls of the Diocese." (10)

For its recent legal papers, the Diocese created a narrative about how Mrs. Soper actually wanted it to receive her entire financial trust. The diocese used the terms "overarching", "paramount", and "predominant" to describe a presumed intent of Mrs. Soper to give the entire Trust to the diocese. The PNC documents state that there is no such presumed intent and that courts have warned "searching for a presumed intent is a slippery slope that should be avoided." (6)

The Diocese continued its narrative by saying the money is safe with them. The Diocesan attorneys wrote that "the Diocesan Investment Committee will oversee the investment of the fund" and that the money would "be accorded more protection, and certainly no less protection that they now have."

PNC attorneys reacted strongly against the narrative written by the Diocese of Washington. In response to the diocesan claim that Mrs. Soper's trust would be safe under its own management, PNC argues that under the DC law called the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds ("UPMIFA") these funds would no longer be endowment funds but only "board-restricted" funds. Hence, the funds would lose their legal protection from creditors.

PNC states, "Since UPMIFA would not restrict the Diocese's spending of the Trust corpus, the only restrictions on spending would be those the Diocese imposes on itself through its governing policies. The Diocese has, however, previously fallen short in complying with its policies governing Mrs. Soper's funds." (9)

PNC attorneys state that the "Diocese would be allowed to spend the fund at whatever spending rate the Diocese may determine is appropriate at any given time." (8) They conclude, "The absence of any legal restriction jeopardizes the perpetual life of the funds and is totally inconsistent with Mrs. Soper's directive that the funds be held "in trust . . . in perpetuity." (9)

DIOCESE VIOLATES SOPER'S INTENT

According to PNC, the diocesan plan to remove the trust from their management would "violate Mrs. Soper's intent." (2) PNC attorneys say that Mrs. Soper wanted to begin a perpetual trust at the commencement of the death of the final beneficiary. They write, "The Diocese's attempt to twist Mrs. Soper's intent in this regard does not square with the plain reading of the will." (3) They state, "Mrs. Soper did not intend to give the Trust Corpus to the Diocese." (4)

The attorneys for PNC affirm that the law supports the continuation of this Trust and said they could find no case where courts would agree to the "termination of a perpetual charitable trust." After reviewing legal literature, PNC says in similar legal cases to this one, the termination of the trust has consistently been rejected.

If this professionally managed Trust Fund is transformed into a Diocesan bank account without separate oversight for the money, trouble looms. This is a huge problem considering the dwindling financial resources available to the Diocese of Washington.

PNC attorneys say about Mrs. Soper, "She clearly chose not to give the Diocese the ownership and management authority they now seek." (22) PNC documents the "bold" claims of the Diocese of Washington saying, "The Diocese first claimed that the 'sole material purpose' of the Trust was 'to provide the Diocese with the highest income stream possible,' even though those terms do not appear anywhere in the Will." (20)

"Then the Diocese asserted that Mrs. Soper intended to give the Diocese the trust corpus, even though the plain language of the Will providing that the Diocese receive only the net income in perpetuity flatly contradicts that assertion."(21)

"Thus 'Mrs. Soper's overarching intent' is a fiction that must yield to-and therefore can never 'outweigh'-the reality of Mrs. Soper's true intent and the material Trust purposes as expressed in her Will." (21) PNC states that the way Mrs. Soper set up this Trust shows her concern that the Diocese of Washington not be allowed to manage her money.

DIOCESE ENGAGES IN SLEIGHT OF HAND

In strong language, PNC asserts, "The Diocese engages in sleight of hand to make its argument that the Trust's perpetual duration does not defeat termination." (22)

PNC provides the Court with the Diocese of Washington's official audit for the year 2010 and hence supplies proof of the many financial difficulties of the Diocese. For example, between 2009 and 2010, the audit shows that parish giving to the diocese decreased by over $225,000.

The Diocese also took out a $2,000,000 loan in 2010 for the Bishop Walker School. The principal and interest on this loan becomes payable in full in May 2014.

Attempts to draw attention to and raise funds for the Bishop Walker School have recently been seen in the Diocese of Washington. At the resigned Bishop John Bryson Chane's 2011 farewell reception, he asked for money for both the Latino ministries and the Bishop Walker School.

In her 2011 book The Heartbeat of God, Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori refers to the Bishop Walker School as one for "at-risk boys and their families in a poor section of the city."(13) Jefferts Schori's description of the Bishop Walker School highlights the apparent poverty surrounding this school in a way not immediately seen on the school's website.

This up-coming payment of debt on the Bishop Walker School, as well as the declining revenues, might have inspired this aggressive and bold lawsuit again PNC.

The legal war between the Diocese of Washington and PNC Bank reveals much information about the true state of this church. This snapshot provides a look into a church apparently defying the wishes of Ruth Gregory Soper while telling the public that her trust is safe even if it is dissolved.

The Diocese of Washington's rapidly declining assets along with this aggressive legal action provides evidence of a church seeming to plunge into a deepening crisis and possible annihilation.

The Diocese of Washington has created a narrative about the Soper Trust that PNC alleges is not accurate and is indeed a "fiction". These tactics do not surprise those familiar with the Episcopal Church because in recent years leaders have frequently altered accepted interpretations of the traditional Christian faith with their creation of new narratives. But that the Episcopal Church now reaches out with its bold revisions into the jurisdiction of the law bears watching.

Will the United States District Court for the District of Maryland allow the Diocese to sweep away the intention of the generous Ruth Gregory Soper in order to pay salaries, operating expenses and now possibly debts? Honoring the intentions of Ruth Gregory Soper is a respectful requirement of ethical and moral conduct, yet the diocesan legal papers show little concern for the actual terms written in the four corners of her will.

We now await the legal proceedings as they offer a profound look into the inner workings of the Diocese of Washington in its legal war with the influential PNC Bank.

Sarah Frances Ives is a regular contributor to Virtueonline. She lives in Washington DC with her husband and two children