The U.S. Supreme Court declined certiorari June 18 in two cases regarding property disputes between congregations and the denominations they have left.
The ruling by the Connecticut Supreme Court in The Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Connecticut v. Ronald S. Gauss is available here as a PDF. The Gauss case involves Bishop Seabury Anglican Church, which affiliated with the Convocation of Anglicans in North America in 2007.
The ruling by the Supreme Court of Georgia in Presbytery of Greater Atlanta v. Timberridge Presbyterian Church is available here as a PDF. A majority of Timberridge Presbyterian Church’s members voted in 2007 to disaffiliate from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The congregation, located in McDonough, Georgia, is now part of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
Bloomberg Law’s SCOTUSblog provides more material on the Gauss and Timberridge petitions.
Matthew Townsend is a Halifax-based freelance journalist and volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct in Anglican settings. He served as editor of the Anglican Journal from 2019 to 2021 and communications missioner for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec from 2019 to 2022. He and his wife recently entered catechism class in the Orthodox Church in America.
