So it turns out Fort Worth is not alone in Hypocrisy, Quincy also in the 1990's had a parish leave and claimed ownership of the property and endowment.
The church was/is St. John's Episcopal Church in Quincy, Illinois seen here.
The Episcopal News Service archives document the split including some great quotes from the chair of the standing committee at the time and the diocesan communication officer.
Rev. John Throop, president of the diocesan standing committee, in a telephone interview, . . . said that the diocese "will vigorously pursue every legal avenue open to us to defend the diocese's control over the property and assets because we know that they are held in trust for the diocese as long as there are Episcopalians who wish to worship there."
Nevertheless, diocesan officials were undaunted in their determination to uphold the clear ownership of the building and the estimated $2 million endowment. "The denial of the preliminary injunction is only a minor setback," said the Rev. Canon J.C. Emerson, diocesan communication officer, in a March 15 press release following the judgment of the court. Emerson said that the diocese has joined parishioners who remain Episcopalians in a lawsuit to "make the parish's case and end the illegal occupation of the property of the legitimate St. John's Episcopal Church by a renegade and dissident few."
This one is even better because the abandonment clause was used against the renegade priest. The current renegades claim this is not the purpose of this canon and yet some of their members used it in the same way.
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