Posts from March 2011
Local Episcopal Parties File New Pleadings and Supplemental Motion for Partial Summary Judgment
On March 31, 2011 the Local Episcopal Parties filed amended pleadings in the 141st District Court of Tarrant County, Texas. The pleadings (1) add a new defendant, Jude Funding, Inc., and (2) seek supplemental declarations and injunctive relief consistent with the Court’s February 8, 2011 partial summary judgment. A more detailed list of the requested relief is in the “Relief Requested” sections of (1) Local Episcopal Plaintiffs’ Seventh Amended Original Petition and (2) the Fifth Amended Answers and Counterclaims to the…
Statement on 3/31/11 Hearing before Judge John P. Chupp
On March 31, 2011 Judge John P. Chupp heard arguments on the Southern Cone Parties’ Motion to Sever and Stay Proceedings. The judge declined to rule from the bench and announced that he wanted to review new filings before ruling. The Southern Cone Parties argued that the Judge should sever out the claims addressed in the partial summary judgment granted on February 8, 2011 for an immediate appeal and stop all further action in the case. In their Response to…
Bishop Wallis Ohl outlines plans for the continuing diocese
In an affidavit signed March 21, Bishop Ohl describes current planning to develop and continue the mission of The Episcopal Church in the 55 congregations of the diocese, stating that a “central element of this plan is for reconciliation with the many worshipers who will return to or remain in the pews.” Click here to read his affidavit.
Insurance Company Sues Iker-Led Diocese
On April 25, 2011 Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company, which has issued directors’ and officers’ liability insurance to the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, sued the break-away faction led since November 15, 2008 by former Bishop Jack Leo Iker. A copy of the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Dallas, is here. Among other things, the complaint seeks a declaration that, based on Judge Chupp’s amended summary judgment order signed February 8, 2011 and the…
Local Parties file motion to compel
On March 25, 2011 the Local Episcopal Parties filed a motion to compel discovery from the Southern Cone parties. Click here to read a copy of the motion. A date for a hearing on the motion has not yet been set. In other legal news, the parties have filed an agreement to preserve documents relating to the diocesan case pending in the 141st District Court of Tarrant County, Texas. The written agreement, signed by counsel of record and filed with the clerk pursuant…
Austin Court of Appeals Rules for Good Shepherd San Angelo Episcopalians
On March 16, 2011, the Court of Appeals in Austin issued its opinion affirming the trial court’s summary judgment in favor of the Diocese of Northwest Texas and the continuing Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in San Angelo. A copy of the opinion is here. In 2006, a majority of the members of Good Shepherd voted to leave The Episcopal Church to affiliate with the Diocese of Uganda, Africa; however, they refused the order of Bishop C. Wallis Ohl, then the bishop…