State should avoid church entanglement

WHEN A CHURCH congregation breaks with its denomination, the two sides rarely part with a mutual "Go with God's grace."

The acrimony is particularly acute in a church divorce now playing out in Fairfax County. The Episcopal bishop of Virginia has declared 11 churches to be abandoned properties. Some congregants threatened to charge diocesan officials with trespassing if they entered the sanctuaries.

The dispute is partly about money. The land and buildings are worth tens of millions of dollars. But it is also about doctrine. Members are angry their leaders ordained an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire.

Virginia's courts have been dragged into what appears on its face to be a property dispute, but a preliminary ruling shows how difficult it will be to sort out the legal issues without straying into questions of faith.

A Fairfax judge gave the breakaway parishes a boost when he concluded that their votes to split from the Episcopal diocese triggered a Reconstruction-era law. The statute was adopted to help Virginia churches break with their Northern counterparts because of disagreements over slavery.

The ruling indicates the judge may not simply bow to Episcopal canons that conclude the property is controlled by the hierarchical authorities of the church. Instead, he is headed down a path leading to an examination of land deeds and internal church laws and constitutions.

This is no perfunctory title search, but a broad probe into the governance of the Episcopal Church. While much of the case may be based on arcane rules about the role of parish trustees and procedural votes on secession, there will be plenty of opportunities for judicial robes to catch on theological snags.

The lawsuit rightly has leaders of other hierarchical denominations concerned that rules established over years, even centuries, could be challenged and nullified in a courtroom. That's about as appealing as a judicial interpretation of the book of Leviticus, and should trouble even the independent-minded Baptists, whose rules give individual congregations ownership of their churches.

Attorney General Bob McDonnell plunged into this theological thicket in January after attorneys for the Episcopal Church challenged the constitutionality of the 1867 law governing church break-ups. But McDonnell went beyond a defense of this rarely used statute, advocating for its use in this lawsuit and giving support to the dissenting congregations.

The Fairfax judge seems inclined to take that advice, but has scheduled a May hearing on the constitutional impact on church-state relations. The judge and the attorney general should take this opportunity to reconsider whether they want secular courts telling churches how to run their own affairs. They've already tramped too far onto sacred ground, but it's not too late to tip-toe away.