Parish, Episcopal diocese settle dispute: St. Barnabas can stay on church property

By Michael O'Connor 

World-Herald
July 6, 2013

OMAHA, NEBRASKA---The Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska has settled a dispute with a local parish over whether the congregation could remain in its church building.

In an out-of-court settlement, St. Barnabas parish made a cash payment to the diocese. The settlement enables the congregation to permanently remain on the church property at 129 N. 40th St. Both sides are keeping the amount of the payment confidential.
In 2007, members of St. Barnabas voted to leave the Episcopal Church. The parish disagreed with the Episcopal Church over issues of church doctrine.
Last year, a Douglas County District Court judge ruled that the people of St. Barnabas must surrender the church building, plus its rectory and other property to the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska.
The ruling came more than three years after the diocese sued St. Barnabas' priest and leaders for the church and rectory. The congregation argued that parishioners always have owned and maintained the church property.
The parish appealed to the Nebraska Supreme Court but decided it was best for the congregation to work out a settlement with the diocese, said Sean Reed, parish council president and senior warden. He said the settlement was fair for both sides.
St. Barnabas joined the Anglican Church in America, an affiliation of conservative Anglican churches. Roman Catholic Pope Benedict XVI, who resigned earlier this year, had set up a path by which such parishes could join the Catholic Church, and St. Barnabas has put itself on that path.
The Right Rev. Scott Barker, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska, said in a statement that “while I am personally saddened by the exit of St. Barnabas from The Episcopal Church, I have little doubt that both the parish and the diocese have acted in faith and charity to end this long-running dispute. On behalf of our whole diocesan family, I wish them well.”

Hat tip to Mary Ann Mueller.

Update on St. Barnabas, Omaha, Nebraska

Legal Update -

As many of you know, in early December we had a meeting with representatives of the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska which was chaired by Msgr. Steenson. The meeting was held at the Archdiocesan Chancery and the Chancellor of the Archdiocese, Fr. Taphorn was in attendance.

From this cordial and productive meeting, we arrived at an agreement for Settlement in the litigation regarding the property, which was filed against us by the Diocese of Nebraska, subsequent to our disaffiliation from the Diocese in 2007.

We next began a process of fundraising for the necessary and mutually agreed upon amount. We completed that process a few weeks ago.

I have worked with our attorney on the final form of the agreement - with several drafts passing back and forth between us and the Diocesan attorney.

We had requested to meet with them to sign the agreement this past Thursday. While the Diocese indicates they are satisfied with the agreement, we have yet, as of this hour, to have the approval of the national TEC communicated to us.

I can tell you that during the last few days I have been in regular communication with Bishop Barker, and can assure you he is doing what he can to facilitate bringing this matter to a conclusion.

When that happens, we will move forward with the execution of the agreement, payment of funds, and the end of the litigation.

Please watch for further updates.

Sean W. Reed,
President, St. Barnabas Church Parish Council
Senior Warden, St. Barnabas Parish

from Facebook

St. Barnabas' legal status still in question

No definitive answers on the horizon

By Mary Ann Mueller
VOL Special Correspondent
www.virtueonline.org
Oct. 31, 2012

OMAHA, NEB: For 97 years, St. Barnabas Church has been a landmark at 40th and Davenport streets In Omaha, Nebraska. The bright white edifice, with brown roof matched by striking deep brown timber framing and sweeping stairs leading to classic Anglican red doors, has been home to an Episcopal - currently Anglican and soon-to-be Catholic - congregation. But as the church's centennial looms on the horizon, its ownership hangs in the balance.

As with so many other former Episcopal church buildings scattered around the United States, St. Barnabas - a fine example of English Herefordshire architecture - is mired in litigation with the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska WHICH seems more than willing to take it away from the on-going congregation by any legal means possible.

Even though the current St. Barnabas church building is inching towards its centennial celebration, the congregation is even older.

St. Barnabas was conceived on the Feast of St. Barnabas (June 11) in 1868 as the Anglo-Catholic daughter of Trinity Parish, the Episcopal Mother Church in the Cornhusker State. According to church records, a small church was built on the corner of Ninth and Douglas streets. The first service was celebrated on Quinquagesima Sunday 1869 (Feb. 7). Finally, St. Barnabas Parish was birthed on May 3, 1869 with the enthusiastic consent of the first Bishop of Nebraska, the Rt. Rev. Robert Clarkson, when the parish constitution was formally adopted. St. Barnabas celebrated its first anniversary with the installation of its first rector, the Rev. George C. Betts, on St. Barnabas Day (June 11) 1869. Since Day One St. Barnabas has always be true to its Anglo-Catholic heritage born out of the 19th Century Oxford Movement. The church's website proclaims: "Faithful stewards of the Catholic Faith in the Anglican tradition since 1869."

For more than a century, St. Barnabas has maintained a strong witness to the Gospel and celebrated Episcopal services with an Anglo-Catholic flair. The faithful of the Omaha congregation, under the spiritual leadership of their priests, have built their faith upon the solid rock - Jesus Christ. Then the shifting sands of the ever-changing liberal theology of the now post-modern Episcopal Church made it abundantly clear that it was time to set out into the deep...

Read the whole story at Virtue Online

Omaha's St. Barnabas parish weighs order to surrender its church

By Christopher Burbach

An Omaha congregation that left the Episcopal Church over issues of doctrine and homosexuality now faces a tough decision about its midtown church: Should congregants stay or should they go?

A judge ruled last week that the people of St. Barnabas Church must surrender the 97-year-old church building, with all its artwork and other trappings, plus its rectory and other property to the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska.

The ruling by Douglas County District Court Judge Joseph Troia came more than three years after the diocese sued St. Barnabas' priest and leaders for the church and rectory at 129 N. 40th St. It is one of many such property disputes around the nation between the Episcopal Church and disaffected congregations.

The judge's order gives the St. Barnabas congregation, which is moving toward joining the Roman Catholic Church, until late October to hand over the keys. But the diocese's lawyer, D.C. “Woody” Bradford, said it won't push to enforce that deadline.

People on both sides said they hope for negotiations that could lead to the congregation's staying in its current home, though not as an Episcopal church. St. Barnabas leaders also are considering an appeal.

“What we're hoping is that now that they have won the lawsuit they'll be more willing to sit down with us and talk about what's real,” said the Rev. Robert Scheiblhofer, rector of St. Barnabas...

Read the rest at the Omaha World Herald.

Hat tips to Fr. Smuts and Michael Frost

==============

Another article with a different slant can be found on the website of Fox42 News. (Note, the article repeatedly refers to the "archdiocese" of Nebraska, which is a mistake, as there are no archbishops in the Episcopal Church in the U.S.; this is probably a conflation with the Catholic Archdiocese of Omaha, which may be more typically part of the news cycle.)

Read the whole story at Fox42 News.

"Property has been taken away from an entity here that was never in court," said John Chatelain.

Last week, a judge ruled that St. Barnabas belongs to the Episcopal Archdiocese of Nebraska. That means, since the church no long associates itself with Episcopalian beliefs and practices, the church keys-and everything inside-belong to the archdiocese.

"Not only has the plaintiff sued the wrong people, but they have failed to sue the person of the entity that owns the property," said Chatelain, the attorney for St. Barnabas.

The Archdiocese filed a lawsuit against seven defendants three years ago. At the time, a little over half were part of the governing body of St. Barnabas. Now, Chatelain said, none of them are church officials.

"Parish corporation has never been named as a defendant-and the property has always been held by the ‘wardens and vestry' of the Church," said Chatelain...

That's one of the many reasons why Chatelain said he plans to appeal the ruling.

Hat tip to Sean Reed and Michael Thannisch on Facebook