Tag Archives: St. Aidan’s Windsor

The Diocese of Huron wants to demolish St. Barnabas, Windsor

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From here:

A discussion on the potential destruction of a landmark 1950s church in Windsor has been postponed until next month.

St. Barnabas Church at 2115 Chilver Rd. is the subject of a demolition request by the Anglican Church of Canada’s Diocese of Huron, who own the property.

The stated intent of the demolition is to make way for construction of a drugstore.

There is nothing particularly surprising about that, since it follows the received ACoC survival strategy of Deconsecrate, Demolish and Trade (DDT). What makes this a little different is what happened to the congregation:

The church’s congregation relocated and merged with the congregation of St. Aidan’s last year, forming the new congregation of St. Augustine of Canterbury at 5145 Wyandotte St. East.

The building situated at 5145 Wyandotte St. East used to belong to St. Aidan’s congregation, a congregation that voted to join ANiC in 2008. The congregation was sued by the diocese of Huron for possession of the building; the diocese won and promptly locked the congregation out of the building. 165 people left and about 12 remained, so to claim that St. Barnabas and St. Aidan’s “merged” is misleading: the diocesan version of St. Aidan’s was taken over – replaced – with the congregation of St. Barnabas, leaving St. Barnabas empty.

Why would the diocese do this? For the diocese to maintain the fiction that it needed St. Aidan’s building, it could not sell it shortly after winning a thoroughly nasty court battle. Instead, the diocese moved another congregation into St. Aidan’s and sold the building that belonged to the moved congregation.

This is what, in church parlance, is called being missional; or is it incarnational – I forget.

St. Aidan’s Windsor: Supreme Court denies Leave to Appeal

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St. Aidan’s Windsor has been in a dispute with the Diocese of Huron over the ownership of the church building and a bequeathment.  On 4 September 2013, the Court of Appeal, upheld the conclusions of the trial court judge, Justice Little. In addition, the Diocese of Huron was awarded partial costs of $100,000.

St. Aidan’s applied for Leave to Appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada and, as I suspected would happen, it has been denied.

From the ANiC newsletter:

 St Aidan’s rector, Canon Tom Carman writes, “Yes, sadly the Supreme Court has decided not to grant us leave to appeal.  It’s not really surprising – not from a human standpoint – but we were hoping for a miracle.  Sometimes, though, God simply calls us to bear reproach for his name’s sake.  And we know that in the end our reward is with Him and in Him.  He will see us through this. Please do continue to keep us in your prayers.”

St. Aidan’s Windsor to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada

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In the ANiC Newsletter, received via email:

St Aidan’s (Windsor, ON) has decided, after much prayer and thought, to appeal the loss of their church building and funds to the Supreme Court of Canada. Please remember the congregation, leadership, legal counsel, and judges in your prayers.

St. Aidan’s appealing the loss of its building to the Ontario Court of Appeal was not only unsuccessful but resulted in the reversal of an earlier ruling that each side should pay its own legal fees: St. Aidan’s was ordered to pay $100,000 of the Diocese of Huron’s legal costs, in addition to their own costs.

The Supreme Court of Canada may choose, like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear, not to hear the appeal; that was the case in the New Westminster appeal. Even if it does, in human terms, a reversal seems unlikely. Still, God has more influence than even the Supreme Court of Canada, so we should pray.

More on St. Aidan’s Windsor appeal

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A legal magazine has an article on the recent court case between the Diocese of Huron and St. Aidan’s, Windsor. The whole article is worth reading but a few points stand out to me:

The costs judge in Delicata adopted the minority view from the litigation in Bentley and made a no-costs to promote harmony and because the litigants were moved by their conscience. The congregation of St. Aidan’s appealed the trial judge’s decision, and the Synod cross-appealed the decision over costs.

The Diocese of Huron had originally demanded over $400,000 in legal costs from St. Aidan’s. Not only did St. Aidan’s lose their appeal, but the judge overturned the original ruling that each side pay their own costs and ruled that St. Aidan’s pay $100,000 of the diocese’s legal costs – in addition to their own costs, of course. So it was a double loss for St. Aidan’s.

I’m sure those ruling in courts of appeal are largely devoid of a sense of humour, so the reasoning behind awarding $100k in costs to the diocese because there is “no evidentiary basis for the need to preserve harmony within the church” could not have been stated in jest. In the eyes of the courts, the Anglican Church of Canada has clearly sunk to such a state of irrelevance to the rest of society, that there is little reason to discourage its self-destruction through internal strife:

The Court of Appeal did reverse the decision on costs in finding that the justice system should not provide a safe harbour for spiritual or religious convictions, and there was no evidentiary basis for the need to preserve harmony within the church.

Also, the idea that “the justice system should not provide a safe harbour for spiritual or religious convictions” has an ominous ring for those with religious beliefs that are out of step with secular mores.

St. Aidan’s Windsor loses appeal

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I just received this via email:

Canon Tom Carman, rector of St Aidan’s, reports:

“In its decision, the Court of Appeal, upheld the conclusions of the trial court judge, Justice Little, on both the matter of St Aidan’s property and the St Aidan’s bequeathment and finance fund.  In addition, the Diocese of Huron was awarded partial costs in the amount of $100,000.

“St Aidan’s had a strong case, based on trust law.  The Diocese of Huron’s Canon 14 states in reference to church property that the diocese “holds it in trust for the benefit of the Parish or congregation.”  This was strengthened by a letter obtained by the people of St Aidan’s from the Chancellor of the Diocese, Lindsey Ellwood, on November 21, 2001 in which he wrote:

“I further reaffirm our discussion wherein I advise that pursuant to Canon 14 the Incorporated Synod of the Diocese of Huron…  has no beneficial or legal entitlement to parish property…”

“Based on these assurances, St Aidan’s proceeded with the appeal and our lawyer, Peter Jervis, was able to build a strong case.  Sadly, the courts accepted the argument of the Diocese that the parish only exists as an entity within the structures of the diocese and that it is impossible for a “parish” to leave the diocese.

“The people of St Aidan’s are understandably disappointed in this decision, however, we believe that the Lord has a plan for us and are trusting in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  

“We are still considering whether to apply for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.  Please keep us in your prayers.”

Sadly, almost every encounter in the courts between the Anglican Church of Canada and the Anglican Network in Canada has gone badly for ANiC – the notable exception being St. Hilda’s first court appearance when the judge ruled that our sharing the building with the diocese of Niagara wouldn’t work. And that ruling was later reversed.

Our prayers should be with St. Aidan’s and Tom Carman. Barring a surprise turnaround from the Supreme Court of Canada, this battle appears to be lost; nevertheless, St. Aidan’s has fought the good fight, one whose true outcome we may not see this side of eternity.

As an aside, I am still flabbergasted that Canadian judges deem it impossible for a parish to leave a diocese in the face of the empirical evidence of around 70 parishes who have done just that – particularly in the light of recent a US ruling where a judge decided that an entire diocese can leave TEC.

In Canada, from a judicial perspective, a “parish” is an abstract entity which doesn’t have to include any people: it is a diocesan owned container into which people may throw their money, talents and energy. When full, the container and the contents belong to the diocese: a health and wealth gospel without the health and you forfeit your wealth. Why would anyone choose to belong to such a church?

Something that makes this ruling even more preposterous is that the Diocese of Huron, when sued over residential school abuse, sought to protect what it regarded as its assets by writing a letter that stated the individual parishes owned their own property, not the diocese.

But Knight said the issue here has other subtleties. Knight said the diocese penned a letter while the Anglican Church was being sued for abuse suffered by Aboriginal children in its residential schools.

Presumably to protect church assets, the letter says the church buildings belong to their individual parishes and the diocese has no claim to them, Knight said.

The diocese might just as well say that it has no claim on the buildings when to have a claim might cause it to lose them and every claim on the buildings when not to have a claim might cause it to lose them.

And now, after this brief sojourn down the rabbit hole with the Mad Hatter, in the spirit of the lucidity of thought that has gone into this judgement,  I’ll let the Dormouse have the last word:

`You might just as well say,’ added the Dormouse, who seemed to be talking in his sleep, `that “I breathe when I sleep” is the same thing as “I sleep when I breathe”!’

Diocese of Huron seeks $445,486.37 in court costs against the people of St. Aidan’s

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The Diocese of Huron won a court case against the ANiC parishioners who paid for and maintain St. Aidan’s in Windsor. The parishioners were evicted and the diocese took possession of the building.

One would think that this would be enough for the diocese, but, no: they also sued for $445,486.37 in court costs.

This goes to show that the grasping avarice often associated with the legal profession pales to insignificance when compared to that of the average Canadian Anglican bishop – Bishop Robert F. Bennett in this case; although, come to think of it, he is a mediocre rather than an average bishop. Perhaps Bennett needs to reread the Five Marks of Mission that are so beloved by his denomination, paying particular attention to “To respond to human need by loving service” and “To seek to transform unjust structures of society”.

The judge denied the diocese the $445,486.37; never mind, Bob, to assuage your financial embarrassment, you could always pass a tin cup to Colin Johnson and James Cowan.

From here:

In a decision released on September 26, Justice H A Rady of the Superior Court of Ontario denied the Diocese of Huron’s bid to exact legal costs from the leadership and parish of ANiC’s St Aidan’s (Windsor, ON). He says: “…I have come to the conclusion that it would be fair and just that the parties bear their own costs.” The Diocese of Huron had been seeking $445,486.37 from the people of St Aidan’s and has now appealed this decision. Your prayer support is appreciated.

Mysterious rumbling in Windsor

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From here:

For weeks, residents of Windsor, Ont., have been complaining about a mysterious rumbling that is shaking them out of sleep. So far no one — including the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and the federal agency Earthquakes Canada — has any idea why.

It’s the sound of the ACoC multitude stampeding back into Aidan’s – will the building be big enough to hold them all, I wonder?

The Diocese of Huron, after being barred from the building in 2008 by the break away group, has for many months shared the facility with the ACNA parish, but in light of this court ruling will move to take sole possession of the building.