Small church fights Episcopal diocese over land

The Church of the Ascension is an unremarkable Middle River landmark, just a squat, brick building on an isolated peninsula south of Martin State Airport. But for Episcopalians in eastern Baltimore County's Wilson Point community, the small church has been a fixture for generations home to such cradle-to-grave memories as baptisms, weddings and funerals.

And on a street of mostly fenced-in front yards, the church's rolling lawn has served as an informal waterfront park to the entire neighborhood since aircraft pioneer Glenn L. Martin donated the property to the community 75 years ago. Residents walk their dogs to the tree-lined shore. A sliver of beach provides a popular spot for fishing. And a wooden bench perched amid a community garden beckons visitors to sit and gaze at the ducks on Stansbury Creek.

But these days the garden is dead, the creek is frozen and the church is locked. For two years the bucolic, nearly two-acre plot has stood at the center of a bitter property dispute in Baltimore County Circuit Court. It is a legal fight that turns on decades-old documents, fading memories and the intersection of civil laws and religious rules.

On one side is a congregation of fewer than 20 people represented by Towson lawyer Donna M.B. King, a sole practitioner. On the other is the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, which has 108 congregations and is represented by Venable, a national law firm with hundreds of attorneys.

The dispute is playing out as the diocese is grappling with a major crisis: Its assistant bishop, Heather Elizabeth Cook, has been charged with manslaughter in the December hit-and-run death of cyclist Thomas Palermo in Baltimore. Cook is out on bail while awaiting trial.

Nationally, the Episcopal Church has been ensnared in a number of property disputes. Typically such fights are triggered by congregations breaking away over issues such as the denomination's support for same-sex marriage and gay clergy, experts say. The Maryland diocese experienced such a defection in 2010 when Mount Calvary Church in Baltimore voted to become Catholic. In that case, the diocese simply sold the building to the departing church.

The issue in the Middle River case is different, inflamed by local passions for a property that many in Wilson Point see as a tribute to Martin's benevolent legacy.

"There are some hard feelings because there are a lot of emotional attachments to the church and a love of that community," King said.

Ascension members allege in their lawsuit that the diocese unlawfully took the building by falsifying a deed and improperly seized $27,000 in church bank accounts. They say that on Feb. 24, 2013, a diocese official ended the final Sunday service by leading the congregation outside and locking the door.

It's been locked ever since.

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Small church fights Episcopal diocese over land