If the "Bush Group" loses, I would think that they could simply sell the della Robbia. That would likely fetch enough to satisfy the judgment and the remainder could be used to set up an endowment with seed money in the range of seven figures. The end result would be a parish financially secure far into the future.I reflected on these very thoughtful suggestions until I realized that in this context, I was trying to understand why something like what the visitor envisioned could not possibly happen. It wasn't until I had been with the parish for a year and was asked to take over as treasurer that I began to understand how things actually work there, and I'm sure this is still the case -- as it was in 1977, when Fr Barker thought it would be a great idea simply to rewrite the parish documents to omit any mention of The Episcopal Church. The Catholic Church would just step right in, right?If the parish dissolves, what would become of the church? I can't imagine any religious body, other than the Scientologists (to stretch the the term 'religious' almost to the limit ), interested in acquiring it. Demolition will be next to impossible because of the historic designation. Moreover, I see myriad difficulties in attempted alternative uses, e.g., restaurant, bar, condo/apartments, theatre, store, school, offices.
The visitor is assuming a parish laity and vestry made up of mature, and often accomplished and professionally successful adults, along the Episcopalian model. Yes, faced with a likely prospect of losing the parish moneymaking asset, the idea would be to develop a contingency plan, monetize the Della Robbia (worth somewhere in eight figures), and work out a practical Plan B.
However, this would require virtues like prudence and fortitude, perhaps with some temperance added, and a dash of humility. But recognize what brought this "Bush group" to its present crisis. Faced with a business decision made by a predecessor vestry on behalf of the corporation. it decided to renege on a $2.7 million loan. The assumption seemed to be that the lender, whose loan was secured by parish property, would simply go away. It s worth noting in contrast that the "Kelley group" vestry, faced with an equivalent $575,000 loan, realized that like it or not, it had to continue with payments and then refinance or lose that property.
The "Bush group" has simply proceeded recklessly throughout the time I've known the parish as a sometime member. They seem to seek out legal counsel who will advocate reckless courses, or at least will go along with their plans to retain them as clients.
So imagine what an Episcopalian style vestry would do, faced with the need to sell the Della Robbia. You can't just take it out of the wall and send it over to Sotheby's. You'd have to engage consultants and conservators to do things like confirm provenance and authenticity, ensure it's in good condition and can be moved safely, and bring the best price. And you can't just worship with an empty hole in the wall above the altar. Simultaneously you'd have to bring in a church architectural firm to redo the sanctuary at minimum, though the whole nave was, I believe, redone in the 1970s when the Della Robbia was placed inside, and there might need to be another full remodeling.
I can tell you this would not occur with the "Bush group". Perpetua, the junior warden, would insist that her gay friend Herb, who works at Michaels, would know exactly how to handle the whole thing. But another group headed by Felicity, the chair of the altar guild, would say this is crazy, and Fred, who is a UCLA art history assistant professor, could coordinate things much better. There would be months of inconclusive wrangling until Sotheby's insisted it was time for the van to arrive, but both Herb and Fred would drop the Della Robbia and shatter it while telling Sotheby's they were doing it wrong.
I'm afraid something like this would be the inevitable outcome. Recognize that the history over only the last eight years has been to dissipate millions in resources on fruitless litigation, appeals, relitigation, and more appeals. This will not have any reasonable resolution.
