What Is TEC Fighting Over?

   5 bob to: Retractiones

The Episcopal Church has gone to court - and met with failure - in trying to prevent 11 Northern Virginia churches from leaving TEC to strike out on there own.

At first glance, looking at these conservative congregations that are looking to disaffiliate altogether with TEC and realign with Anglicans in Africa, it is somewhat beffudling to me why TEC is trying to stop them. At least at first - then I think it through.

They - the libs - are greedy. They don’t want or need those church buildings, and the folks in charge don’t want the conservatism those folks represent to remain within TEC.

They want the buildings and the endowments - the cash and real estate.

If they succeeded in keeping the real estate, what use would they have for them? They know the members would not stay, they would move and rebuild from scratch.

They know they are losing members at break-neck speed. Keeping the membership and the communion intact is no longer the priority - the perhaps billions of dollars in endowment money, great real estate and The Episcopal Church™ name brand is what is being fought for now by what is left.

I run hot and cold on Catholic efforts to start endowments - on one hand given the shear size of our numbers here in the US if even 5% of the Catholic population agreed to donate $10 per paycheck ($20 a month) to an endowment for buildings, schools, pensions, social programs, in 20 years (at 8%) that could grow to an impressive endowment of $38,940,392,581.79. Yea, almost $40B.

But if it isn’t handled well by folks who oversee it rightly this is the risk you run - vultures picking over a fatty, well endowed carcass located on some great real estate.