Ecclesiastical court judgments – October (III)

Review of ecclesiastical court judgments during October 2021 (3 of 3)

Twenty four consistory court judgments were circulated in October, and the ten featured in the first part of the round-up all relate to Reordering, extensions and other building works. The second part reviewed judgments which concern Exhumation and Churchyards and burials and this third part considers Organs, CDM Decisions and Safeguarding, and CFCE Determinations, Other reports, Visitations &c, as well as links to other posts relating to ecclesiastical law.


Organs

Re St. Dunstan Edge Hill [2021] ECC Liv 2 

The Petitioners sought permission for the removal and sale of a “magnificent Henry Willis pipe organ” that had been installed in the church since the building was constructed over 120 years ago, v infra. They wished like to sell the organ, which is in a deteriorating condition of repair and has not been played since 1985, to an interested buyer – the Bethany Presbyterian Church, Rochester, New York State, who would restore it, without modification from its original design, and use it for performances and worship. The funds raised by the sale would secure the future of St Dunstan’s for many years [1]. The Chancellor, the Worshipful Graham Wood QC, explained:

“[2]. The responsibility of this court exercising the faculty jurisdiction…is to ensure that the PCC is not profiteering by removing a heritage asset which is of substantial interest not only from an historic, aesthetic or architectural point of view, but also as a splendid example of a rare musical instrument which is deserving of preservation and enhancement, if at all possible, in the location in which it was intended to remain for as long as the building was standing.” Continue reading