{"id":15662,"date":"2013-09-30T11:35:57","date_gmt":"2013-09-30T15:35:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/?p=15662"},"modified":"2014-04-08T10:51:19","modified_gmt":"2014-04-08T14:51:19","slug":"ontarios-highest-court-decides-church-property-dispute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/legal\/2013\/09\/30\/ontarios-highest-court-decides-church-property-dispute\/","title":{"rendered":"Ontario’s Highest Court Decides Church Property Dispute"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor’s note: Click here for an update<\/a> on this case.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In a recent decision that<\/span>\u00a0<\/b>will be of interest to churches and denominations across the country,\u00a0<\/span>Ontario\u2019s highest court has weighed in on a number of important legal questions, including:\u00a0<\/span>Who owns a charity’s assets in a parting of ways? Who decides what a “congregation” is? And who should bear the legal costs once these questions are answered? The case and its implications for charities are discussed in this article.<\/span><\/p>\n

Background <\/b><\/h2>\n

On September 4, 2013, the Ontario Court of Appeal released its decision in Delicata v. Incorporated Synod of the Diocese of Huro<\/strong>n<\/a>.<\/b><\/i>[i]<\/b><\/b><\/a> <\/b>That case involved a dispute between the Anglican Diocese of Huron (the \u201cDiocese\u201d) and the membership of St. Aidan\u2019s Anglican Church in Windsor, Ontario (the \u201cSt. Aidan\u2019s Group\u201d). The case involved what the court described as \u201cprofound and long-standing theological differences relating to Biblical interpretation and the authority for Anglican doctrine found in the Scriptures.\u201d Ultimately, a decision was made by the St. Aidan\u2019s Group, catalyzed by the Diocese\u2019s decision to bless same-sex unions, to leave the Diocese.<\/p>\n

As a result of this parting of ways, the question arose as to who owned the church property in Windsor, as well as a charitable foundation established and maintained by St Aidan\u2019s members. The matter made its way to court<\/a>, where the trial judge focussed on the interpretation of the Diocese\u2019s canons, particularly Canon 14<\/strong>, which stated that the Diocese holds all real property \u201cin trust for the benefit of the Parish or congregation.\u201d[ii]<\/a><\/p>\n

The issue turned on the interpretation of the phrase \u201cParish or congregation\u201d. The St. Aidan\u2019s Group argued that a parish is a fluid concept that describes the people<\/span> who comprise the congregation at any one time. The Diocese argued that a parish is a static concept<\/span> that continues in perpetuity regardless of changes in membership, and submitted that while members of the parish may choose to leave, \u201cthe parish continues in perpetuity to be the responsibility of the Bishop of the Diocese in which it is geographically located.\u201d[iii]<\/a> The trial judge agreed with the Diocese, concluding: \u201cMembers can come and go in a parish at any time, but the parish itself remains.\u201d[iv]<\/a><\/p>\n

The trial judge determined that the church property<\/strong> would remain with the Diocese, and the St Aidan\u2019s Group appealed to the Ontario Court of Appeal.<\/p>\n

Decision<\/b><\/h2>\n

On appeal, the Ontario Court of Appeal agreed with the Diocese and the lower court, and rejected what it described as the \u201csnapshot theory\u201d of a parish:<\/p>\n

\u201c[T]he words \u2018Parish or congregation\u2019 must denote a static entity that may not be severed from the Diocese and that is not defined by any particular group of members at any particular time.<\/em>\u201d[v]<\/a><\/p>\n

The Court was influenced by the Anglican Church\u2019s Canons and incorporating legislation, which both stated that church property could not be sold, mortgaged, or otherwise disposed of without the Bishop\u2019s consent. The Court interpreted this to mean that the Bishop (and by extension the Diocese) retained control over all church property in perpetuity for the benefit of the Diocese. Permitting the property to be distributed \u201cat the will of a single group of estranged congregants\u201d would, in the view of the Court, wholly undermine this objective.[vi]<\/a> The court also noted that to allow \u201cany group of worshippers who [meet the minimum membership requirements] and…by majority vote, leave the Diocese and take the church property with them\u201d would clearly be contrary to \u201cwhat the canons intended.\u201d[vii]<\/a><\/p>\n

The St. Aidan\u2019s Group also argued that, if they could not keep the church building, the Diocese would be unjustly enriche<\/strong>d because funds for the church\u2019s land and building, including an addition in the 1990\u2019s that cost $610,000, were raised \u201centirely by the church members\u201d. However, the Court rejected this argument as well, concluding:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe congregants who contributed money or labour to maintaining the church property knew they were doing so for the benefit of St. Aidan\u2019s Parish of the Diocese of Huron. It must be inferred that they also knew what the canons and statute stated.<\/em>\u201d[viii]<\/a><\/p>\n

For all of these reasons, the Court dismissed the St. Aidan\u2019s Group\u2019s appeal, affirming that the St. Aidan\u2019s Group\u2019s vote to leave the Diocese meant that it had to leave the property of the parish behind.<\/p>\n

This left the issue of costs: who was responsible for paying the legal fees for the lengthy court battle? Normally, the general rule is that the unsuccessful party pays at least a portion of the successful party\u2019s costs. In the lower court, however, the costs judge had decided to depart from this usual rule in the interest of promoting \u201charmony\u201d. The Diocese appealed this decision, and once again, found favour with the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal noted that there was \u201cno basis in the evidence\u201d to suggest that the \u201cpursuit of harmony\u201d was a legitimate reason to depart from the usual rules governing cost award. The Court stated:<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a matter of principle, in our justice system litigation over spiritual or religious convictions should not presumptively have a safe harbour from costs.<\/em>\u201d[ix]<\/a><\/p>\n

The Court ordered the St. Aidan\u2019s Group to pay $100,000 toward the Diocese\u2019s legal costs (which amounted to almost $450,000), in addition to their own costs of almost $270,000. The Court made it clear that this money could not be paid from the St Aidan\u2019s Foundations funds, as this would constitute a breach of trust. Presumably, this means that the individuals that formed the St. Aidan\u2019s group will be personally responsible to pay this money.<\/p>\n

Commentary<\/b><\/h2>\n

The outcome of this decision is not particularly surprising \u2013 it is consistent with the lower court\u2019s findings as well as the conclusions reached by British Columbia courts in a similar case.[x]<\/a> However, it does affirm a number of important legal concepts, and the following general principles may be drawn from the case (see also our recent article “When a Charity Divides, Who Keeps What?”<\/a>\u00a0for a discussion of a similar case from Alberta):<\/p>\n

1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Courts will look to a church\u2019s governing documents and hierarchical structure to determine ownership of property in the event of a dispute between a diocese\/denomination<\/strong> and local congregation<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Ontario Court of Appeal\u2019s comments continue a judicial trend: judges seem to be resistant to allowing dissident groups to unilaterally break away from a larger church body and take property with them, even if those individuals are the ones who actually donated the resources to acquire the property. Of course, each case will be decided on its own facts, and in this case the Anglican Church\u2019s unique hierarchical structure, canons, and legislation all played a role in the final outcome. It is quite possible that a different conclusion might be reached in a different denominational\/local church relationship, depending on the specific church laws in place.<\/p>\n

3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It seems that church members and donors will be \u201cpresumed\u201d by the court to have read and understood the documents governing the legal relationship between the diocese or denomination and local church. Practically speaking, this does not seem to reflect the reality that many church members have never read their denominational documents or church canons, or at least might interpret them differently than a civil court would. As such, their actual intent in making a donation may or may not reflect what the law presumes it to be. Nevertheless, denominations and churches alike should ensure that everyone has a clear understanding of who has ownership of \u201cchurch property\u201d and who has the authority to decide what to do with it in the event of a dispute.<\/p>\n

4)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Individual litigants should no longer presume that they will be shielded from a costs award should they be unsuccessful, even if they are going to court with the best of intentions. Although previous cases (including a dissenting opinion of the British Columbia Court of Appeal<\/a>) suggested that there might be some latitude shown to litigants motivated by sincere religious convictions, that view was not adopted by the Ontario Court of Appeal.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the case reflects just some of the difficulties that arise in the unfortunate scenario when a church and denomination disagree on doctrinal matters. Sometimes, recourse to the civil court system is inevitable, but denominations and churches may wish to think creatively and proactively about whether other options could be explored in the event of a dispute. It is best to have that conversation early on, before a dispute arises, so everyone can think objectively about how such matters ought to be dealt with. Hopefully, in the spirit of Christian harmony, some disputes might be resolved without having to commence litigation.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

[i]<\/a> 2013 ONCA 540.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[ii]<\/a> Synod of the Diocese of Huron v. Delicata et al, <\/i>2011 ONSC 4403 (CanLii<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[iii]<\/a> Ibid. <\/i>at para. 32.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[iv]<\/a> Ibid. <\/i>at para. 44.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[v]<\/a> Supra <\/i>note i at para. 69.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[vi]<\/a> Ibid. <\/i>at paras. 70-71.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[vii]<\/a> Ibid. <\/i>at para. 73.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[viii]<\/a> Ibid. <\/i>at para. 75.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[ix]<\/a> Ibid. <\/i>at para. 79.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[x]<\/a> See Bentley v. Anglican Synod of the Diocese of New Westminster,<\/i> 2009 BCSC 1608 (CanLii<\/a>), aff\u2019d 2010 BCCA 506 (CanLii<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor’s note: Click here for an update on this case. In a recent decision that\u00a0will be of interest to churches and denominations across the country,\u00a0Ontario\u2019s highest court has weighed in on a number of important legal questions, including:\u00a0Who owns a charity’s assets in a parting of ways? Who decides what… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ts_fic_featured_image_caption":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[159,180,165],"tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-15662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-charity-law-and-policy","category-church-property","category-trust-law"],"yoast_head":"\nOntario's Highest Court Decides Church Property Dispute - CCCC Blogs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cccc.org\/news_blogs\/legal\/2013\/09\/30\/ontarios-highest-court-decides-church-property-dispute\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ontario's Highest Court Decides Church Property Dispute - CCCC Blogs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Editor’s note: Click here for an update on this case. In a recent decision that\u00a0will be of interest to churches and denominations across the country,\u00a0Ontario\u2019s highest court has weighed in on a number of important legal questions, including:\u00a0Who owns a charity’s assets in a parting of ways? Who decides what... 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That case\u00a0dealt with the question of ownership of charitable assets after a local church congregation parted ways with its Diocese, pursuant to \"profound and long-standing theological differences.\"\u00a0 Yesterday, the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Charity law and policy"","block_context":{"text":"Charity law and policy","link":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/category\/charity-law-and-policy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25140,"url":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/intersection\/2017\/04\/13\/supreme-court-of-canada-decides-to-hear-the-wall-case-is-a-church-member-entitled-to-sue-a-congregation-because-he-was-disfellowshipped\/","url_meta":{"origin":15662,"position":1},"title":"Supreme Court of Canada Decides to Hear The Wall Case: Is A Church Member Entitled To Sue A Congregation Because He Was Disfellowshipped?","author":"cccc","date":"April 13, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) decided today to hear the Wall case from Alberta.\u00a0 The SCC must decide if a court has jurisdiction to hear a case of a former church member who is suing for damages because he lost his membership due to church discipline.\u00a0 Here is a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"law and religion\"","block_context":{"text":"law and religion","link":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/tag\/law-and-religion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/IMG_1808-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15010,"url":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/legal\/2013\/08\/28\/splitting-heirs-when-a-charity-divides-who-keeps-what\/","url_meta":{"origin":15662,"position":2},"title":"Splitting Heirs: When A Charity Divides, Who Keeps What?","author":"Deina Warren","date":"August 28, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Many charities are \u201cparents\u201d to subsidiaries, branches, or divisions. 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His business suffered to the point of\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/IMG_0091.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/IMG_0091.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/IMG_0091.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/IMG_0091.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/IMG_0091.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":27656,"url":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/intersection\/2018\/05\/31\/supreme-court-of-canada-decides-jehovahs-witnesses-v-wall\/","url_meta":{"origin":15662,"position":5},"title":"Supreme Court of Canada: Churches Free to Determine Membership Requirements and Disciplinary Process Without Judicial Review","author":"cccc","date":"May 31, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is the head note of today's decision. 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