The 11 Anglican congregations in Virginia involved in litigation with The Episcopal Church received a favorable ruling Wednesday in Fairfax County Circuit Court.  Judge Randy Bellows said The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Virginia failed to timely assert their claim that the 11 churches that left The Episcopal Church in 2007 contracted around or waived their right to invoke a Virginia Division statute.
 
Judge Bellows also ruled that the statute, which concerns the rights of congregations to keep their properties when a majority of members votes to leave their denomination, does not violate the contracts clause provisions of the U.S. and Virginia constitutions as applied to the church properties.
 
The 11 congregations, now part of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA), are attempting to retain their properties, and The Episcopal Church claims the properties are held in trust for the diocese. A trial will be held in October.
 
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