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Appeals court remands lawsuit over Episcopal property
By BRUCE SMITH
Associated Press Writer
CHARLESTON, S.C. --The South Carolina Court of Appeals reversed a circuit court judge Monday, saying there should be a full trial in a dispute over ownership of property at All Saints Church in Pawleys Island.
All Saints, one of the largest Episcopal churches in the state, voted
earlier this year to leave the national Episcopal church and join the
conservative Anglican Mission in America.
In 2000, the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina filed a public notice
that All Saints was subject to the church rules under which churches hold property in trust for the diocese and the Episcopal Church.
All Saints sued, asking a judge to order the notice removed from public
records.
Circuit Judge John Breeden Jr. later ruled the diocese had no claim on the property because the 1745 deed put the property in trust for the
descendants of George Pawley and William Poole for use for religious
services.
Breeden ruled on a motion for summary judgment, which means a full trial was not held.
The appeals panel ruled Monday that are a number of issues of material
fact that need to be decided at trial and on which the judge erred by
ruling on summary judgment.
"Many of the arguments the diocese made were spoken of in a way that they were serious questions that deserve serious consideration," said the Rev. Kendall Harmon, the diocese's canon theologian. "We're very pleased with the opinion, naturally."
"The Diocese of South Carolina is very pleased the Court of Appeals, in
reversing the order of the trial judge, has upheld every single point made by the diocese," said E.N. Zeigler, an attorney who is the diocese's chancellor.
An attorney representing All Saints said she was not surprised by the
ruling, based on the arguments before the Court of Appeals.
"The decision is not a defeat for my client. It's simply a recognition
there are complex issues," Henrietta Golding said.
Judge William Howard Sr., wrote the 30-page opinion and Judges Samuel Stilwell, and John W. Kittredge concurred.
One of the issues, the opinion said, was that "the trust required the
property to be used to house a chapel for the worship of the 'Church of
England established by Law.'"
After the Revolution, the church was no longer established by law.
The circuit court erred in refusing to consider evidence of the legal
successor to the church in the United States, the opinion said.
The diocese contends the parish operates under a 1902 charter in which the congregation agreed to abide by the laws of the denomination and diocese.
The Diocese of South Carolina is comprised of 75 parishes in the lower and eastern part of the state.
