Virginia Church Property Rights Bill Sent Back to Committee
by Jim Brown
February 8, 2005
(AgapePress) - The Virginia Senate has effectively turned down proposed legislation aimed at clarifying Virginia laws relating to church property. The bill sponsored by State Senator William C. Mims would have allowed congregations to keep their property, even if they left their denominations.
Senate Bill 1305 was prompted by a federal court decision 18 months ago that struck down Virginia's longstanding prohibition on churches incorporating. Mims believes the bill offered clear direction to state courts in a constitutional fashion. "It would say that, when there is a dispute, the property is owned by the local congregation," he says, "unless there is a clear statement in a deed or in an expressed trust agreement to the contrary." In other words, the Virginia senator emphasizes, a departing congregation would maintain its property unless a binding legal document expressly states, for instance, "that the property would go to a denomination, or a diocese, or a bishop."
The bill would have had a direct impact on Virginia parishes that wish to sever ties to their parent denominations, including those congregations that have chosen to leave the U.S. Episcopal Church over its consecration of an openly homosexual bishop. Few churches have actually left the national Episcopal church, however, because current property laws prevent dissenting congregations from taking their property when they leave the fold.
Critics of the legislation argued that it created an unnecessary state entanglement with church affairs. However, Mims felt the measure addressed potential constitutional problems in current Virginia church property law, and he believes the State Attorney General agreed with him. He cites a letter the AG issued "pointing out that our statute is suspect and indicating that this bill would potentially improve the situation."
However, due to the time constraints of Virginia's particularly brief legislative session, Mims saw the bill's prospects for passage this year wane steadily. According to a Washington Post report, he told fellow lawmakers that, without more time, they would not be able to make proper disposition of a measure "that is either exceptionally complex or about which there has been exceptional confusion."
At the Republican lawmaker's suggestion, the Senate unanimously voted to return SB 1305 to the general laws committee for further study. That panel is not scheduled to convene again before Senate has to start addressing only House legislation, so returning the bill to committee almost certainly means it has no chance of coming up for a vote again this year.
Mims remarked that it is unfortunate the legislation could not have been debated and decided in "a less charged atmosphere." Nevertheless, he contends, the Virginia Senate will have to take the matter up again next year to avoid seeing the state's current "archaic laws" concerning church property struck down by the courts.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
