Dennis Canon

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The Dennis Canon is a common (though unofficial and unfavored) name used for Title I.7.4 (as presently numbered) of the Canons of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.

The Canon states:

“

All real and personal property held by or for the benefit of any Parish, Mission, or Congregation is held in trust for this Church [i.e., the Episcopal Church in the United States] and the Diocese thereof in which such Parish, Mission or Congregation is located. The existence of this trust, however, shall in no way limit the power and authority of the Parish, Mission or Congregation otherwise existing over such property so long as the particular Parish, Mission or Congregation remains a part of, and subject to, this Church and its Constitution and Canons.

”

History and Purpose

The Dennis Canon is named after the attorney and later Suffragan Bishop of New York Walter Dennis, who drafted it ^[1]. It was passed by the 66th General Convention in 1979, having been introduced by the Committee on Canons of the House of Bishops as D-024 of that Convention ^[2].

The Dennis Canon purports to codify an assumed trust relationship the Episcopal Church claims regarding property held by parishes. The parishes, through their vestries, are supposedly trustees of the property for the benefit of their local dioceses and the national Episcopal Church.

If the Dennis Canon is assumed to be valid, a vestry could be accused in civil court of breaching its fiduciary trust if it transfers property to another ecclesiastical jurisdiction, such as a Continuing Anglican church. Adoption of the Dennis Canon followed the turbulent 1960s and 1970s, when parishes left the Episcopal Church and attempted to retain the parish property for reasons including the admission of women to Holy Orders, the adoption of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, and the belief that some bishops held heretical views ^[3]

Litigation Involving the Dennis Canon

In recent years, the Episcopal Church has been embroiled in a variety of theological disputes concerning its doctrine, discipline, and worship. Because of these disputes, parishes and entire dioceses have purported to leave the Episcopal Church and attempted to take property and assets with them. Almost every state court has upheld the Dennis Canon under the "neutral principles approach". ^[4] and the existence of a trust relationship on behalf of the Episcopal Church, and the majority of court rulings to date have upheld the position of the Episcopal Church. One notable exception is the State of Virginia, where a Civil War era statute may override the Dennis Canon ^[5]

References

1. ^ Calvary Files Complaint in the Court of Common Pleas
2. ^ http://www.episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/acts_new/acts_resolution-complete.pl?resolution=1979-D024
3. ^ Legal Affairs
4. ^ The Episcopal Diocese of Ohio, et. al. v. The Anglican Church of the Transfiguration, et. al. Court of Common Pleas, Cuyahoga County, OH Case No. CV-08-654973
5. ^ The Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Virginia, et. al. v. Truro Church, et. al. Fairfax County, VA Circuit Court Case No. CL-2007-0248724