Christ Church Savannah (GA) Ruling: Heartbreaking for the traditional faithful there, and living proof of Saint Paul's writing at 1 Corinthians 6:1-8 ...

The trial judge's ruling in this case is nothing less than a heartbreaking loss for the traditional faithful for whom Christ Christ is their vineyard in God's Kingdom on earth, and also for generations of their ancestors.  No words that any of us can utter will ease the pain that they feel, at least not for the moment.  We cannot and should not dismiss the decision as being anything less than devastating by saying that the church is not about buildings.  On one level such a statement is accurate since the church represents the "Body of Christ" and is, therefore, the people who make up the body in that particular church.  However, on a much deeper and more personal (and yes human) level, decisions such as this one are not about "brick and mortar" at all.  No, these types of decisions are about the blood, sweat and tears, the lives begun, lived and ended, and the souls which have for generations been first saved and then spiritually fed in that place.  It is much more than the loss of mere buildings about which we mourn, it is about all of the lives and souls that those buildings represent.  May the peace of God, that peace which passes all human understanding, comfort each of the good souls at Christ Church who are today in pain and, in the days ahead, bring to them clarity of vision and strength of purpose.

The hard and cold fact is that whenever people resort to lawsuits as a means to settle a dispute and turn over the dispute to the trier of fact (be it judge or jury), there is going to be a winner and a loser.  Civil trials simply do not end in a "win-win" fashion.  To the victor, go the spoils!

My legal training tells me that it is absolute folly for a non-Georgia lawyer to attempt to comment upon the merit, or lack thereof, of the Georgia court's ruling.  Therefore, I will not attempt to "go there."  However, as a traditional Episcopalian who knows all too well that the same fate may one day be in my and my parishes future, my heart aches and I pray that the decision rendered does not stand (assuming that the good people of Christ Church decide to continue the fight). 

The very sad reality now being faced by the traditional faithful at Christ Church brings clearly into focus Saint Paul's admonition to the Corinthians that "believers" (of Christ) should not resort to the courts of the unbelievers to resolve their disputes with each other (that is, among believers) for the very act of doing so is a defeat.  May all that are truly believers of Jesus, the Christ, read and inwardly digest the Apostle's words:

When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints?  Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases?  Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church?  I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers?  To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?  But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even your own brothers!

God's peace, especially to our brothers and sisters at Christ Church. <><