A federal judge has partially granted a temporary restraining order requested by a chaplains organization seeking to formally separate from the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).
The Jurisdiction of the Armed Forces and Chaplaincy (JAFC) filed a complaint against the Anglican denomination after ACNA refused to permit the ministry to disaffiliate.
United States District Judge Bruce Hendricks of the District of South Carolina, Charleston Division, issued an order last week granting part of JAFC’s motion for a temporary restraining order.
In the ruling, Hendricks stated that while the court “does not intend to entangle itself into an internal canonical dispute over the Anglican Church’s ecclesiastical structure,” certain issues raised by JAFC “may be ripe and appropriate for the Court’s consideration, such as Plaintiff’s trademark claims.”
“After hearing arguments from the parties, counsel for Defendant effectively conceded that Defendant would refrain from using Plaintiff’s service mark ‘Jurisdiction of the Armed Forces and Chaplaincy,’ Plaintiff’s trademark, ‘Anglican Chaplains,’ and Plaintiff’s trademarked logo,” Hendricks wrote.
“Additionally, after review of the evidence of record and the applicable law, the Court finds that Plaintiff has met its burden … as to these three items, and the Court thus grants Plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction as to those three items.”
However, Hendricks declined to grant JAFC’s other requests, including claims of alleged slander against Bishop Derek Jones, citing a lack of clarity in the evidence presented.
“Furthermore, as noted on several occasions during the hearing, the record abounds in material factual disputes, and the Court does not find it appropriate to resolve those factual disputes at this time and based on the current record,” the judge wrote.
“Lastly, as to Plaintiff’s request that the Court restrain Defendant from slandering Plaintiff or Bishop Jones, the Court simply notes that law already exists to prevent slander.”
The legal battle follows a September letter from JAFC Chairman David van Esselstyn to ACNA Archbishop Steven Wood announcing the ministry’s decision to terminate its affiliation with the denomination.
Despite JAFC’s declaration of independence, ACNA did not recognize the disaffiliation and instead appointed new leadership over the chaplains’ jurisdiction. In response, JAFC filed its complaint last month in federal court, initiating the current dispute.
