Legal News (Page 3)
This section provides a historical record of legal actions regarding the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth.
In addition to news articles below, the Texas judicial system maintains a list of each action on the case related to our diocese on their page, along with links to documents.
Click here to view the court’s records related to this case.
Episcopal Parties File Petition for Review by U.S. Supreme Court
On June 19, 2014, The Episcopal Church and loyal Episcopal parties and congregations of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth filed a petition for writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court. The Fort Worth parties were joined in the filing by the Episcopal Diocese of Northwest Texas and the officials from the continuing Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in San Angelo. In related news, the remand of the case to the 141st District Court in Tarrant County continues; Judge John P. Chupp entered a scheduling order that includes pleading and discovery deadlines and sets the hearing on motions for summary judgment for December 17, 2014.
Diocesan litigation moves forward in two courts
At a hearing on Thursday, April 24, 2014, Judge John P. Chupp of the 141st District Court denied the Episcopal Parties’ motion to stay, or stop, proceedings in the diocesan case in the district court and granted the breakaway ACNA parties’ motion to set aside the supersedeas order that had imposed conditions for the ACNA parties to maintain possession of the church property during appeal. The breakaway parties agreed to give notice before selling any church property in their possession. This ruling…
Motion filed in 141st District Court on April 21, 2014
On Monday, April 21, 2014, attorneys for Local Episcopal Parties filed a Motion for Stay and Response to Motion to Set Aside Order on Defendants’ Motion to Set Supersedeas Bond. The motion begins, “Four years ago, Defendants argued to this Court: `[A] substantial amount of the Court’s time and the parties’ money must be spent—and potentially wasted—if the . . . claims must be tried before there is an appeal.’ The same is true today. Although the Texas Supreme Court reversed this…
Bishop High issues statement in wake of Texas Supreme Court action
We found out today the Texas Supreme Court denied our motion to stay issuance of mandate. Of course, we had hoped they would respond positively to our request. In the wake of this decision, our legal team is preparing for the hearing next Thursday before Judge John P. Chupp. We will keep you updated as things progress. It is a slow process, but we will continue to move forward. +Rayford B. High, Jr.
Episcopal Parties File Motion to Stay Mandate In Anticipation of Appeal to U.S. Supreme Court
On March 25, 2014, the loyal Episcopalians of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth filed a motion requesting the Texas Supreme Court to stay its mandate in anticipation of an appeal to the United States Supreme Court. A copy of the motion is HERE: Emergency Motion to Recall and Stay Issuance of Mandate or to Stay Enforcement of Mandate A copy of the Episcopal Parties’ reply to the breakaway faction’s response is HERE: Reply in Support of Motion to Stay…
Texas Supreme Court denies motions for rehearing
On Friday, March 21, 2014, the Texas Supreme Court denied the motions for rehearing of its August 30, 2013, opinions in the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth case and the companion Masterson case from the Episcopal Diocese of Northwest Texas. Both cases address fundamental Constitutional issues regarding the rights of American churches, including The Episcopal Church, to determine their ministers and internal governance and to maintain their churches and other property given for the mission and ministry of the Church.…
U.S. Supreme Court Ruling Leaves Falls Church Property in The Episcopal Church
On March 10, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the petition for writ of certiorari filed by a breakaway faction from the historic Episcopal congregation of Falls Church, Virginia. The order makes final the April 18, 2013 decision of the Supreme Court of Virginia that the continuing Falls Church Episcopal, founded in 1732, and not the breakaway faction that left in 2006, retains the church property. This case joins the long line of cases in which the nation’s highest court has…
Motion for rehearing – update
A brief update on the recent motion for rehearing: On Wednesday, October 23, the Texas Supreme Court requested that the ACNA parties file responses to the Episcopal parties’ motions for rehearing filed in the Fort Worth and Northwest Texas cases, respectively. The responses are due by November 7.
Motion for rehearing filed with Texas Supreme Court
On Friday, October 18 2013, attorneys for the Local Episcopal Parties and Congregations and attorneys for The Episcopal Church filed a motion for rehearing with the Texas Supreme Court of the case heard on direct appeal from the 141st District Court, Tarrant County. They laid out two points for rehearing: The Court’s retroactive application of neutral principles to this dispute is unconstitutional because the Court did not ‘clearly enunciate’ adoption of the neutral principles approach before this case. This Court should,…
Letter from Bishop Rayford High on next steps after Texas Supreme Court opinion
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, After a day and a half back in the office, I want to share with you several very important things about our diocese. First, I will be meeting with our legal team and we are actively working on the next steps forward in the litigation. I have heard that some folks think we are giving up. That is not true. We will keep you as informed as possible as these plans unfold while still…
Statement from the Episcopal Diocese of Northwest Texas regarding the Texas Supreme Court opinon in the Masterson case
The Episcopal Diocese of Northwest Texas and the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd issued this statement on August 31, 2013 following the Texas Supreme Court’s opinion in the Masterson case. In Masterson, a San Angelo trial court and the Austin Court of Appeals both found that breakaway parties had no right to take historic Episcopal Church property that they had sworn to protect, just as the Fort Worth trial court found in our diocesan case. Dear Friends in Christ, We wanted to let you…
A letter from Bishop Rayford High following the opinion from the Texas Supreme Court
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, On August 30, 2013 the Texas Supreme Court issued an opinion that sent our case back to the lower court for reconsideration. While it is a disappointment not to have a definitive decision, as followers of Jesus Christ, we live in hope. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori joins me in acknowledging our disappointment and urging all of us to be gentle with one another during this trying time, with the important goal of continuing…
Episcopalians react to Texas Supreme Court opinion
The Rt. Rev. Rayford B. High, Jr., bishop of Fort Worth; the Standing Committee, and the Board of Trustees of the Corporation of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth are disappointed by the August 30, 2013 opinion of the Texas Supreme Court that failed to uphold the summary judgment of the 141st District Court, Tarrant County, Texas. That judgment granted the Local Episcopal Parties’ and The Episcopal Church’s Motions for Summary Judgments.
Letter from the President of the Standing Committee on the Conciliation
From Marti Fagley, President of the Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, on the recent conciliation meeting and settlement: Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, In June 2012, the members of the Standing Committee and our then provisional bishop, the Rt. Rev. C Wallis Ohl, submitted a Title IV complaint to the Episcopal Church Intake Officer, the Rt. Rev. F. Clayton Matthews. This internal Church disciplinary proceeding was initiated against seven bishops ordained by The Episcopal Church…
Settlement Reached on Disciplinary Complaints Against Bishops
The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church, has approved an accord reached between various complainants and nine bishops of the Church arising from three ecclesiastical discipline complaints filed under Title IV of the Church’s canons. A copy of the accord is HERE. The accord arises from conciliation, or mediation, of complaints which alleged that the respondent bishops, purporting to act in their official capacities as bishops of The Episcopal Church, caused to be filed or…
Conciliation Meeting Outcome Announced by The Episcopal Church
The outcome of a January conciliation meeting concerning complaints involving the Episcopal Dioceses of Fort Worth and Quincy has been announced, following the written agreement of all parties and acceptance by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.