What's Wrong With the Episcopals

I just finished writing a paper for my Law and Econ class analyzing the impact of political structures and property ownership in church organizations. In particular, I paid special attention to the recent trends in the Episcopal church. Using a bit of game theory, the Coase Theorem, and some simple trend analysis, I show how the current trends in the Episcopal Church illustrate a good example of what a poor incentive structure can do to wreck havoc on a church organization.

Two days ago, it looks like several prominent Episcopal Churches here in Virginia voted to sever ties with the denomination (PDF):

FAIRFAX and FALLS CHURCH, Va., Dec. 17 – The Falls Church and Truro Church reported today that both congregations voted overwhelmingly to sever ties with The Episcopal Church in the U.S. and join the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, or CANA.

Of the 1,348 eligible voting members casting ballots at The Falls Church this past week, 1,228, or 90 percent, voted in favor of the first question, or “resolution,” on the ballot about whether to sever ties. On the second and final resolution, 1,279 of 1,350 eligible members, or 94 percent, voted in favor of retaining the church’s real and personal property.

Of the 1,095 eligible voting members casting ballots at Truro Church, 1,010, or 92 percent voted in favor of severing ties. On the second resolution, 1,034 of 1,095 eligible members, or 94 percent, voted in favor of retaining Truro’s real and personal property. Both churches used essentially identical ballots.

See church websites for The Falls Church and Truro Church for more info and read the Episcopal News Service coverage of all of this.

The New York Times reported Sunday:

For about 30 years, the Episcopal Church has been one big unhappy family. Under one roof there were female bishops and male bishops who would not ordain women. There were parishes that celebrated gay weddings and parishes that denounced them; theologians sure that Jesus was the only route to salvation, and theologians who disagreed.

Now, after years of threats, the family is breaking up.

As many as eight conservative Episcopal churches in Virginia are expected to announce today that their parishioners have voted to cut their ties with the Episcopal Church. Two are large, historic congregations that minister to the Washington elite and occupy real estate worth a combined $27 million, which could result in a legal battle over who keeps the property.

In a twist, these wealthy American congregations are essentially putting themselves up for adoption by Anglican archbishops in poorer dioceses in Africa, Asia and Latin America who share conservative theological views about homosexuality and the interpretation of Scripture with the breakaway Americans.

In my paper, I analyzed the trends of the decline in membership of the Episcopal church as the result of a non-accountable leadership. This lack of accountability also translates into a continually growing bureaucracy as can be seen in this trend graph I created:

This membership decline is continuing in full force with these recent decisions:

If all eight Virginia churches vote to separate, the Diocese of Virginia, the largest Episcopal diocese in the country, will lose about 10 percent of its 90,000 members. In addition, four churches in Virginia have already voted to secede, and two more are expected to vote soon, said Patrick N. Getlein, secretary of the diocese.

However, the secession effort in Virginia is being closely watched by Anglicans around the world because so many churches are poised to depart simultaneously. Virginia has become a central stage, both for those pushing for secession and for those trying to prevent it.

One of the key observations in my paper is the role property ownership plays in church structures. This is also being borne out in what is occurring right now:

If the vote is to secede, the churches and the diocese will fight to keep ownership of Truro Church, in Fairfax, and The Falls Church, in Falls Church, Va., a city named for the church.

Henry D. W. Burt, a member of the standing committee of the Virginia Diocese, grew up in The Falls Church and recently urged members not to secede. He said in an interview: “We’re not talking about Class A office space in Arlington, Va. We’re talking about sacred ground.”

Neither side says it wants to go to court over control of the church property, but both say the law is on their side.

As a Christian, it makes me sad to see conflict and breaks going on in the church like this. As an economist, I believe many of their problems they are facing are due to inefficient systems of political decision making, too much centralization, and perverse property ownership rules. These have combined with other influences to make the leadership structure in the Episcopal Church into a large, unresponsive bureaucracy, beholden to special interest groups within the church and inattentive to the needs and desires of local congregations. Until and unless this trend is reversed, I expect the church will continue its tragic downward spiral.

My heart and prayers go out to everyone impacted by this split. I hope to develop my research into a more substantive paper in the near future in order to further understand all of this.

My Related Posts:

• The Self-Defeat of 'Secular Christianity'?
• Religionomics!
• Liberal Christianity is Paying for its Sins?
• The Value of Religion