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| | VirtueOnline - News - RICHMOND: Virginia Bill Would Alter Rules on Church Property |
 | | RICHMOND, (Feb. 1,2005)--A bill before the Virginia Senate has alarmed the Episcopal Church and other mainline Protestant denominations that are deeply torn over the ordination of gay ministers and the blessing of same-sex marriages because, they say, the measure would give local congregations unprecedented powers to break away from their national denominations. |
 | | The bill, now on the Senate floor, would allow congregants to vote to leave their denominations and keep their church buildings and land, unless a legally binding document such as a deed specified otherwise. |
 | | Although Episcopal Church officials did not learn of the bill until the middle of last week, delegates to the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia's annual convention in Reston over the weekend passed a resolution opposing it, said Russell V. Palmore, the chancellor, or lawyer, of the diocese. |
| www.virtueonline.org /portal/modules/news/print.php?storyid=2017 (763 words) |
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