Assuming that the squatters are finally evicted, I see great problems for the parish.For starters, many thanks for the kind remark about my blog! These are very good questions, and some of them have taken the efforts of highly capable legal minds, while others touch on the parish's ongoing legal strategies, which are confidential, and to which as a friend of the parish who nevertheless is not on the vestry, I'm not privy. So I speak here only for myself as a lay observer.
- Will the church have a functioning vestry upon repossession?
- If so, who will be the members?
- If not, how long will it take have a parish meeting to form a new vestry?
- Who will be considered to be voting members of the parish at such a meeting? (Will Mrs.Bush, et al., still be considered active members?)
- Who will be the rector upon reposssession?
- Will the parish be an independent congregation without a bishop?
- Will the parish bylaws provide clear answers to these questions?
- Is it likely that the Ordinariate will want anything to do with the parish until all the various property and financial issues are resolved?
- Will members who have become Roman Catholic return to the parish?
- If so, will they also have to attend Mass at a Roman Catholic parish and only receive Holy Communion there?
I would be most interested in you addressing these matters in your highly informative blog.
Regarding the status of the vestry, the best answer I can give is to try to extrapolate the intent of the appeals court, which was basically to ensure as much as possible the continued legal existence of the corporation. The vestry in the eyes of the court continues to be the one elected in February 2012. There have been changes in its membership since that date, but they were made in accordance with the bylaws, and they were recognized in Judge Strobel's 2015 decision. By the same token, the 2015 trial court, in ruling that the 2012 vote to leave the ACA was valid, affirmed the appeals court's view that this also makes Fr Kelley the legal rector. Should the parish regain control of the property, it would presumably hold a membership meeting at the earliest possible date in 2016, or whenever it did regain control.
Regarding the membership of the parish, the bylaws say members in good standing are
Registered in the Parish Register as a Communicant of the Parish and upon the books of the Treasurer as a pledged, or regular weekly or monthly contributor to the support of the general budget of the Parish, or a giver of notable service acknowledged by the Rector and Vestry, for at least the preceding twelve months.Further,
The Rector will submit to the Vestry at its January meeting and again in July meeting the names of those persons who are voting members of the Corporation, and whose names will be displayed in the minutes of the Vestry for those meetings and attested by the Clerk.and,
Any member who has not participated in the Church activities, has not had contact with clergy or Vestry, and has not made a financial contribution within a year will be put on the inactive membership list.but,
Persons who have been placed on the inactive membership list may be restored to active status upon reaffirming their active membership.It's worth pointing out that a continuing core of communicants has held mass on a weekly basis at the residence of a vestry member. Consequently, there is currently a group of members in good standing as defined in the bylaws. Other members as of 2012 who, for fear of personal safety for example, stayed away from the parish during the time of trouble would be eligible for immediate reinstatement.
I simply don't know exactly what has been put before the court regarding whether certain individuals would be required to stay off the property. Several among the squatter group have either physically assaulted regular parish members, threatened to do so, or threatened violence against the property. Others, while listed in the legal actions, appear to have lost interest and moved on. How any of their cases would be handled is a legal issue I can't address.
A number of members in good standing as of 2012 had earlier been baptized and confirmed as Roman Catholics. I believe they returned to Catholic parishes when the troubles began. How, or whether, they would return to the parish if it did not join the Ordinariate is up to them, although I'm sure they would be welcome to return as communicants there in the future, recognizing the canonical issues they would face in doing so. My wife and I became Catholic in 2013 but have continued as friends of the parish, though we receive communion at a Catholic parish. Should it enter the Ordinariate, we would need to consider our future involvement at that time.
At this point, the parish is independent and has no affiliation and no bishop. The courts have deferred to the bylaws as the source for definitive answers to any questions about affiliation, and would continue to do so. The bylaws will need to be revised again for the parish to enter the Ordinariate. The parish has maintained its interest in joining the Ordinariate, and an adviser to Los Angeles Abp Gomez has continued his contacts with the vestry, although he presumably does not speak for Bp-Elect Lopes.
The Ordinariate would almost certainly not receive the parish until all legal issues are resolved. Among other things, it simply does not have the financial resources to protect the parish from continued legal action. However, this assumes that the atmosphere in Houston would be favorable to admitting the parish as well. On that, or on whether the arrival of Bp-Elect Lopes would have an impact, I can make no judgment as of now.
I hope this helps. Please pray for Fr Kelley, the vestry, and the parish.
