Despite spending over $40 million in a zero-sum game of scorched earth litigation, the Episcopal Church (TEC) was defeated today in Texas' Tarrant County Court, with Judge Chupp ruling in favor of the traditionalist Diocese of Fort Worth.
The Diocese of Fort Worth voted to leave the Episcopal Church in 2008 and was sued by the denomination for all its property and assets. TEC claimed that these belonged to the national church and had been held by the diocese "in trust."
Chupp's order denies TEC's claim, and follows earlier decisions by Texas' Supreme Court, which stated that TEC's lawsuit should be tried on neutral principles of state property law and that there was no "trust relationship" between churches, dioceses and TEC.
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The Tarrant County ruling is the third in a series of legal reversals experienced by the Episcopal Church, following defeats in South Carolina and Quincy.
TEC, you lose, and perhaps $40 million+ might have been spent more wisely.
LSP
