WCG’s Side Loses in Court
TRANSFORMED FROM TRUTH
A few weeks ago, WCG joined into a lawsuit in order to prove its opinion on whether a group can break from its parent religious group. For obvious reasons (WCG renounced most of its original doctrines yet retained all the assets accumulated when it believed those original doctrines), WCG opposed that:
Protestant groups join Episcopal fight over church properties
The Christian Century – June 17, 2008
Sixteen Protestant denominations and regional districts have joined a friend-of-the-court brief supporting the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia in contesting a Reconstruction-era state law that governs church splits.
The post-Civil War splintering of Methodist and Presbyterian churches in 1867 prompted the Virginia law, which allows congregations to keep their property when seceding from a church or “religious society” that’s dividing. But the United Methodist Church and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), two of the largest U.S. mainline Protestant denominations, say the law is unconstitutional.
On May 16, a judge in Fairfax County, Virginia, ruled that the UMC, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and the Worldwide Church of God may participate in oral arguments May 28 over the law’s constitutionality.
The amicus curiae brief is a sign of how closely some Protestants are following the multimillion-dollar battle between the Episcopal Church and 11 conservative congregations that left to join a branch of the Anglican Church of Nigeria. http://www.christiancentury.org/article.lasso?id=4856
Today, the press reported that the court ruled in favor of the breakaway group:
Breakaway Anglicans Win Property Battle
The conservative church members invoked the law to split from the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia after disagreements over the role of homosexuals in the church. Those churches seek to take tens of millions of dollars in property with them. But the diocese says it’s entitled to the property and has a right to settle church disputes without state interference.
In a 49-page ruling, Circuit Judge Randy Bellows of Fairfax found that the state law breaks no rules governing the separation of church and state…
Oakes hopes The Episcopal Church will respect Friday’s ruling. “While we will continue to defend ourselves in court, we are hopeful that TEC and the Diocese will put aside this expensive distraction,” he said. “While we disagree with their decision to walk apart from the worldwide Anglican Communion, we acknowledge their right to do so.
“We would hope that they would acknowledge our right to remain faithful to the tenants of faith that have given comfort to our forbearers who built the churches TEC and the Diocese are now trying so hard to take.” http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080628/breakaway-anglicans-win-property-battle.htm
While I generally do not favor break away groups, the truth is that when the “parent” church radically changes doctrines, those that have proven the original doctrines as biblically correct and who then wish to hold to the original doctrines certainly should be able to split.
All should “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).
For information about what that actually is, the following articles may be of assistance:
The History of Early Christianity Are you aware that what most people believe is not what truly happened to the true Christian church? Do you know where the early church was based? Do you know what were the doctrines of the early church? Is your faith really based upon the truth or compromise?
The Churches of Revelation 2 & 3 Do they matter? Most say they must, but act like they do not. This article contains some history about the Church of God (sometimes referred to as the continuation of Primitive Christianity) over the past 2000 years.
What Do Roman Catholic Scholars Actually Teach About Early Church History? Although most believe that the Roman Catholic Church history teaches an unbroken line of succession of bishops beginning with Peter, with stories about most of them, Roman Catholic scholars know the truth of this matter. This eye-opening article is a must-read for any who really wants to know what Roman Catholic history actually admits about the early church.
Location of the Early Church: Another Look at Ephesus, Smyrna, and Rome What actually happened to the primitive Church? And did the Bible tell about this in advance?
Apostolic Succession What really happened? Did structure and beliefs change? Are many of the widely-held current understandings of this even possible? Did you know that Catholic scholars really do not believe that several of the claimed “apostolic sees” of the Orthodox have apostolic succession–despite the fact that the current pontiff himself seems to wish to ignore this view? Is there actually a true church that has ties to any of the apostles that is not part of the Catholic or Orthodox churches? Read this article if you truly are interested in the truth on this matter!
Another Look at the Didache, Ignatius, and the Sabbath Did Ignatius write against the Sabbath and for Sunday? What about the Didache? What does the actual Greek reveal?
Ancient “Christian” Sermon This is believed to be the oldest complete surviving post-New Testament sermon. Have you ever read it?
Polycarp’s Letter to the Philippians This is Roberts and Donaldson’s translation, corrected by me in one place, where they made a small error in translating Latin by omitting one word.
Tradition and Scripture: From the Bible and Church Writings Are traditions on equal par with scripture? Many believe that is what Peter, John, and Paul taught. But did they?
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