Property bill makes churches uneasy

See PEW, Extra 4PEW: Could bill resurface in next session?FROM Extra 1 "I'm glad Mr. Jefferson can get some rest now, as I'm sure he's been rolling in his grave."

That was the conclusion of the Rev. Wilson Gunn, former pastor of Peace Presbyterian Church near Bonsack, when he heard of the death last week of Virginia Senate Bill 1305.

Gunn is now the regional executive - called the general presbyter - of the National Capital Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (USA). And like his counterparts in numerous other institutions that represent or govern churches in the commonwealth, he was relieved at the measure's demise.

Proposed by Sen. Bill Mims, a Leesburg Republican, the bill would have dramatically altered state law on how churches hold property. In particular, it would have allowed congregations by a simple majority vote to separate from their denominations and to take their property with them - even if church law stipulated that the congregation only held the property in trust for the larger church.

For countless people such as Gunn, who strongly endorse the Jeffersonian principle of separation of church and state, the government simply has no business telling churches how they should handle schism.

Legislating theology

The Rev. James Mauney, bishop of the Virginia Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, pointed out that Mims' bill wasn't - as it was touted - simply a clarification of the legal process of church splits.

Mauney said what he would "emphasize is that every denomination has its own theological understanding of why it is structured the way it is." He then asked, does the Virginia Senate really want to be involved in determining which theology is right for the hundreds of different religious groups in the commonwealth?

Obviously, it does not. And in the end, it became clear that not enough senators would support the bill for passage, and Mims asked that it be redirected to a committee that would be unable to consider it before the end of the legislative session.

While Mims may well be right that Virginia's antiquated church property laws need revision, he would be wise to follow the advice of Douglas Smith of the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy and consult with religious bodies before revising the code.

Worries ahead

Religious folks who were concerned about the Mims proposal really have two worries now.

One is that he will reintroduce similar legislation in the next General Assembly. While Baptists, for instance, don't have to worry because the bill doesn't affect their already congregationally governed churches, Methodists, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Presbyterians and many others do have concerns. They're likely to start now to make their voices heard in the debate.

A second worry, however, is more difficult to attack. That is, that this bill could have come so close to unchallenged passage.

Mims offered the bill, which apparently would have benefited an Episcopal congregation of which he is a member, at the very end of the part of the session when each house can act on its own bills.

With the flood of legislation - much of which goes unread by a large number of legislators before they vote - it zipped right through committee and passed an easy first reading on the Senate floor.

Then it was noticed by a church executive - the bishop of the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church - who raised a cry of protest.

Mims took a couple of days to write a slight amendment, which he then apparently represented on the Senate floor as having satisfied Methodist objections, and the bill passed on its second reading.

Methodist Bishop Charlene Kammerer had to send an overnight message to all the senators to let them know the amendment did NOT make the bill less objectionable. Only then did Mims concede defeat and return the bill to committee.

Gunn reminded me of an old adage: "No man's life, liberty or property are safe when the legislature is in session."

Fortunately, we can still read that as a humorous observation.