The Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth prevailed on December 29th in Hood County, as it did in earlier in 2009 in Tarrant County, on two more Rule 12 motions filed on behalf of groups controlled by Bishop Jack Iker and others who have left the Episcopal Church but claim to still control the continuing Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth.
So reports the Episcopal Diocese of Forth Worth in a January 4th release:
Episcopal Parties Prevail on Motions in Hood County Case
On Tuesday, December 29, 2009 the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, the Corporation of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth and St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church [the Episcopal Parties] prevailed in Hood County on two more Rule 12 motions filed on behalf of individuals who have left the Episcopal Church but claim to still control the continuing Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, the Diocesan Corporation, and St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Fort Worth.
In their procedural motions under Rule 12, groups controlled by Bishop Jack Iker and others who left the Episcopal Church challenge, as they did in the Tarrant County case, the authority of attorney Jon Nelson and Chancellor Kathleen Wells to appear as counsel of record for the historic diocese, the Diocesan Corporation, and St. Andrew’s. They also sought to strike the pleadings of the Episcopal Parties as a back door effort to challenge the authority of the Episcopal Bishops Edwin F. [Ted] Gulick, Jr., former provisional bishop, and C. Wallis Ohl, current provisional bishop; and the Standing Committee and Trustees of the Corporation who currently lead those continuing entities in carrying out in the mission and ministry of the Episcopal Church.
District Judge Ralph H. Walton, Jr. denied the motions after hearing the testimony from witnesses and argument of counsel and after reviewing the substantial affidavits and other evidence.
The case in Hood County arises out of a dispute about who is entitled to receive the post November 15, 2008 distributions intended for “St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church” as the beneficiary of a trust created by the late Cynthia Brants, long time member of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Fort Worth. The ultimate issues in the Hood County case are the same as those in the Tarrant County case, e.g., who are the leaders of the continuing diocese and Diocesan Corporation, both formed in 1983, and the continuing St. Andrew’s, formed in 1875, after the former diocesan bishop and other clergy and lay leaders, including some at St. Andrew’s, left the Episcopal Church and now claim to be affiliated with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone.