(Staff)  On Dec. 24^th, the trustees of four Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC) congregations in the greater Vancouver area filed an appeal of Mr. Justice Stephen Kelleher’s B.C. Supreme Court decision of last Nov. 25. They did so in an attempt to preserve their ministries on their current properties.

But the Diocese of New Westminster, which is part of the Anglican Church of Canada, is not entirely happy with the ruling either and on Jan. 7^th filed an appeal of the section awarding the $2.2 million bequest of Dr. Daphne Chun to St Matthias & St Luke’s.

The four parishes involved are St Matthew’s in Abbotsford, St Matthias & St Luke’s, St John’s Shaughnessy and Church of the Good Shepherd in Vancouver. Combined they have an average Sunday attendance of approximately 1500 people and their properties are worth more than $20 million.  

The trustees of the four churches had asked the courts in September 2008 to clarify their responsibilities after Michael Ingham, Bishop of New Westminster, purported to replace the trustees and seize the parish bank accounts in two of the congregations. Mr. Justice Kelleher found the bishop had no legal or canonical authority to replace the trustees, but he also said that the trustees had a duty to use the church properties for the benefit of the diocese and the Anglican Church of Canada.

This has left the parties in an untenable position since both parties feel they are upholding the principles upon which the Anglican Church of Canada and the diocese were founded, but they have very different views about what that entails.

“Our legal counsel has advised our parishes that there are strong legal arguments that warrant an appeal,” said Cheryl Chang, Chancellor or legal advisor for ANiC. “Since the deadline for filing an appeal is 30 days from the date of judgment, and since this Christmas period is the busiest season in the church year with many additional worship services and events, the trustees felt it was necessary to file the appeal now in order to protect their rights and keep their options open….They plan to continue looking at their options in the New Year.” The appeal could be dropped at any time.

Chang reiterated that the diocesan officials “still don’t actually have control over the parish corporations, despite the impression they are trying to give. The judge held they did not have any legal or canonical authority to replace the trustees.”

Bishop Ingham has invited the trustees of the four congregations to meet with him and other diocesan officers on Jan. 16th.

“We are still negotiating the terms of a potential Standstill Agreement so we do not expect any meeting to take place on the 16^th,” said Chang.

The trustees are planning to meet again to discuss whether or not to have a meeting with the Bishop once they have a Standstill Agreement or Stay Order in place to prevent the Diocese from locking the congregations out of their buildings and seizing their assets.

ANiC now has 33 parishes and 8 forming congregations in North America, with more than 3500 people in church on an average Sunday. ANiC is under the episcopal authority of Bishop Donald Harvey and is a diocese in the Anglican Church in North America.