Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Holy Ghost Church vs The Saint Nicholas Brotherhood

I received an urgent email today regarding the following notice in today's Phoenix.

*******

In the Court of Common Pleas of Chester County, PA

Civil Action

No. 08-0849

The Holy Ghost Carpatho-Russian (Orthodox) Church of the Eastern Rite of Phoenixville Pennsylvania

vs

St. Nicholas Brotherhood of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania Incorporated

And

John Does

To: St. Nicholas Brotherhood and John Does

The aforesaid civil action is based upon the claim and request made by the Plaintiff, to be authorized and empowered by the Court to be the only entity to act on behalf of the St. Nicholas Brotherhood of Phoenixville, Incorporated.

NOTICE TO DEFEND

You have been sued in Court. If you wish to defend against the claims set forth in the Complaint, you must take action withinin twenty (20) days after the Complaint and Notice are served by entering a written appearance personally or by an attorney and filing in writing with the Court your defenses of objections to the claims set forth against you. You are warned that if you fail to do so the case may proceed without you and a judgement may be entered against you by the Court without further notice for any money claimed in the Complaint or for any other claims for relief requested by the Plaintiff. You may lose money or property or other rights important to you.

****

More text in The Phoenix - Page B5 - August 05, 2008

37 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh my God. I can't believe a church would do that. How sad, and a testament to the words of Jesus Christ himself who turned over the tables in the temple.
I guess whatever money the church had will now go right to lawyers. So it goes in a secular society.

Great witness, and what great reinforcement for those aound us who don't go to church anywhere.

Anonymous said...

I always thought of Holy Ghost there on the corner as a very religious looking place. They had pictures and write ups at Easter that made it look like something special was happening there.

I don't go to church. Now I know why.

Anonymous said...

This is quite odd that the board of officers is suing their own parishioners. The Holy Ghost Board said the St Nicholas Brotherhood was disolved and later said the St Nicholas Brotherhood was the church board. What is the truth ???

After being told that the lease on the deed was not worth the paper it was printed on or "bogus", now is it perhaps a fact that the lease is authentic ? Does this mean that the brotherhood was never disolved and the church board is not the St Nicholas Brotherhood. ?

As we have contended is it not irrefutable that the St Nicholas Brotherhood is indeed the body of the members of Holy Ghost Church?

What church funds are being used to sue the Brotherhood of St. Nicholas AKA The members of the parish ? Are the building funds restricted which contain the estates of donors and widows being used to pursue this matter ?

I am ashamed at what is happening !

Anonymous said...

What church has money these days to throw away to lawyers?
I am guessing without knowing much about your situation that the Brotherhood lease/deed will stand, no matter how old a document it is.
I feel for the people of this parish-the REAL people who are dedicated to preserving what you have there. I think this HUD thing is a scam all around.

As a mamber of the larger Christian community, I will pray daily that deeds done in darkness will ALL come to light. Keep the faith. God will prevail.

Karen said...

Anonymous:*

Why does this not come as a surprise to those of us who have followed this sad drama. It sounds like this Brotherhood thing was the real deal. Why else would the church have to go to court to change it. Maybe those people who were speaking out were right all along. This was the 99 year thing that the first people who founded the church set up if I remember the stories on this site.

*Edited

Anonymous said...

Imagine calling your brothers and sisters in Christ John Does. Will these same people walk with them to the Communion rail on Sunday? If ever there needed to be proof that the devil never sleeps and walks amongst us;this is it!

Anonymous said...

Obviously, the Holy Ghost leadership feels the need to have the St. Nicholas Brotherhood dissolved so that they can declare the lease null and void.

If no one shows up in court representing the St. Nicholas Brotherhood, there is a good chance that the judge will dissolve the Brotherhood and declare the Holy Ghost leadership the church owners.

I agree that serious questions should be posed to the Holy Ghost leadership about where the money to pay the lawyers is coming from. Also, someone needs to represent the Brotherhood in court on that date or it will be declared null and void.

Anonymous said...

I happened to watch the televised Council meeting of July 15th on tv last night and one thing struck me as very sad. Councilman Senley said he read a letter from the Dioceses that, to paraphrase, if he were a member of the church and read the contents of this letter he would leave the diocese. What is going on??? How do they treat their people?

Anonymous said...

1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? 2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? 4 If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. 5 I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren? 6 But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers. 7 Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? 8 Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren.9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Cor. 6:1-11)


God Bless and be strong Saint Nicholas Brotherhood as you must ensure the lease of the founders is honored as many were mislead into believing your entity was disolved and lease bogus. I pray the funds of the church are not all wasted on the mistakes of the current leadership. Allowing the people who have tried to seek the truth, do so, is the path to follow.

Anonymous said...

To contact the author of the letters please see.

www.acrod.com

Karen said...

Anonymous 10:25, the link is to a domain for sale.

Anonymous said...

www.acrod.org

sorry been a long time

Anonymous said...

couldn't find letters on that website regarding this situation in your church.

Did you mean maybe this:
(Taken directly from a pastoral letter Pentecost 2008 posted on the acrod.org website):

"...Christ is Risen, and we must go, run, proceed into the very ends of the earth where the Gospel has not been heard.
Perhaps the ends of the earth are in our workplace, our school, our neighborhood: Go quickly now, tell them that He is Risen. Perhaps the ends of the earth are in our homes, our families, our friendships: Go now, in haste, and tell them that the light shines in the darkness..."

LOLOLOL! I'm not seeing a whole lot of light going on here. I would appreciate seeing this letter that Councilman Senley read. It may shed more 'light' on whether I would ever become religious. I can tell you, watching a church sue its own parishioners would definitely be a big deterrent, LOLOL!

Anonymous said...

The Saint Nicholas Brotherhood of Holy Ghost Church, according to our own families generational history, has always been identified as the body of members of our Church.

Our founding families preserved our Church property from a sale for 99 years by drafting and adopting a lease to the deed from the Reeves family when the property was purchased.

Our forefather's legacy and our heritage is in danger. Anyone who is related to a family that was a part of the original founders, please research your papers and look for documents and forward a note to this blog as any old papers pertaining to the original bylaws and creation of the brotherhood would be helpful for the many people who want to honor the intentions and preserve this sacred ground. Anyone interested in stopping this civil action, post your interests and you will be heard!

Jeff Senley said...

Anonymous:

I am not at liberty to share the letter with the public, as it was shared in confidence with me.

Suffice it to say that I found it divisive and saddening that a Church Diocese would choose to proceed in this manner, but it is not the first time I have seen this sort of activity within the Catholic Church.

In my youth, my family was Catholic; we ended up ultimately leaving that Church over a tasteless monetary situation over the 1979 Easter holiday.

While I didn't understand it at the time, I understood it as I grew older.

Anonymous said...

Mr Senley,
Holy Ghost Church is not a Catholic church. It is an Orthodox church. They were once Catholic, actually members of St Michaels Catholic Church in Mont Clare, but in the 1930's broke away from the Catholic church over property/financial rights and formed this particular Orthodox diocese under a Patriarch and not the Pope of Rome.
Sadly, history repeats itself for this parish. I pray for the Brotherhood at this difficult time and wish them well.

Anonymous said...

Their hierarchy certainly sounds Catholic! LOL

Jeff Senley said...

Anonymous:

I understand that Holy Ghost is not a Catholic church; I was just comparing a similar experience in a similar context.

Anonymous said...

Jeff Senley said...
Anonymous:

I understand that Holy Ghost is not a Catholic church; I was just comparing a similar experience in a similar context.


I've seen it too. And this is exactly why so many today see the need to belong to a church irrelevant. Who needs the extra financial burden and who needs to be guilted into situations such as this one. I think threatening me that I wasn't Christian would have been the last straw for me. Jesus and me-at least we get along together!

Karen said...

Posted anonymously but edited.

Everyone needs a church ideally in todays world in my opinion as it helps with family unity, fellowship and faith. Our people of Holy Ghost had years of fun times with fellowship, bible study, prayer groups, fundraising and the wonderful slovonik festivals with the Koss Band and doing the chicken dance.

I pray every day this can return to our wonderful parish. We are not a bad bunch of people and God has a reason for everything but right now question what the reason for this travesty ??

There is evil amongst life. What is going on over the past recent years is not the will of God. The fond memories, daily prayer and reading the Bible give me strenth that our wonderful parish will survive and this HUD thing will be a memory. Our size of youth will regain it's numbers, our teachers will want to teach, our workers will enjoy making the pirogi and we will have food sales, polka's and pig roasts on the stage dancing as we had before the dark cloud of despair came to town.

Keep the faith, God Bless, Forever know, Not all religions are bad and we do need organized religion.

Anonymous said...

When I called the paper to find out how much the long advertisement cost for this lawsuit - the woman yelled at me and said this was the 7th call on this ad for the church and she could not tell how much it cost. I asked why that was a secret since maybe I wanted to put an add that size in for a project and she said, I have had calls all day about this situation. She said it ran all week and was hundreds of dollars a day.

Wow that is a shame. I hope the church people can make the officers pay for the expenses as no one voted for this kind of activity and it should not continue!

Anonymous said...

I WANT TO HELP STOP THE SALE OF PROPERTY. HOW CAN I DONATE FUNDS TOWARD A DEFENSE?

I SAW THE OWNERSHIP ISSUE AND PA COURT RECORDS OF LAWSUITE EVERY DAY THIS PAST WEEK AS ADVERTISED IN THE LOCAL PAPER. DOES THIS MEAN THAT THE BROTHERHOOD WILL STOP THE SALE BY DEFENDING THE PARISHIONERS AGAINST THE OFFICERS LAWSUIT?

APPARENTLY THE MAN WHO SPOKE FOR OFFICERS ABOUT OTHER LADY SPEAKERS BEING DISHONEST, WAS NOT AWARE OF LEGAL FORMS OF BROTHERHOOD SINCE 40'S. OR WAS HE MISLEADING THE BOROUGH? WILL COUNCIL AND PLANNING CONTINUE TO DEBATE THIS SALE FOR HOUSING WHEN A COURT CASE IS ON THE TABLE AND OWNERSHIP IN QUESTION? HOW DID EVANS DETERMINE THE LEASE WAS BOGUS IF IT IS TYPED ON THE SAME TYPEWRITER AS THE LIBRARY DEED? MAYBE MORE IMPORTANT ISSUES SHOULD BE HANDLED BY BOROUGH AND NOT ENTERTAIN ANYMORE AGENDA ITEMS FOR HOUSING ON CHURCH COMPLEX UNTIL THE PEOPLE OF THE CHURCH RESOLVE THIS SITUATION AS EVANS CAN'T BUY SOMETHING FROM THOSE THAT DO NOT TECHNICALLY OWN IT CORRECT? EVANS ALSO STATED HE DIDN'T WANT TO CAUSE DIVISION IN THE CHURCH!

WHY WASTE TIME ON THIS LOCATION FOR HUD AND MOVE ON?

Karen said...

Anyone who wishes to donate may call me.

Anonymous said...

A message from our past president
the departed DAvid Dascher from 1963 Silver Anniversary Booklet:

' With Thanksgiving to Almighty God for his many blessings upon us... The trials, the tribulations, the heartaches, the frustrations and disappointments, which often were our lot during the difficult days in the past 25 years, appear today as the sandstones that put a sheen upon our accomplishments.

Imbued with unbending faith in our sacred casue--the perpetuation of our beloved Orthodox Church--our parishioners are well schooled in the meaning of sacrifice; graciously tolerant of criticism and Christianly forgiving of abuse. These have been the rewards of the long hard road from 1938-1963. Today we are filled with the hope of tomorrow" .. "To the living and toiling members of our parish, we ask God's affluent blessings, good health and prosperity in order that their efforts and devotion may bring abudant fruits in Christ's vineyard on earth. May the Lord bless yo uand keep you for many, many years".. David Dascher, Church President 1963

THIS IS THE TRUTH. OUR FOUNDERS WORKED HARD AND CREATED THE BROTHERHOOD FOR THE PURPOSE OF ENSURING THAT THE ENTITY WOULD ALWAYS OWN THE LAND, TO PRESERVE AND HONOR THE LEASE AS SETFORTH BY OUR FORFATHERS. A SAFE, SANCTIFIED, HOLY PROPERTY FOR THE COMPLEX TO REMAIN FOR THE FUTURE GENERATIONS.

MAY THE LORD GIVE STRENGTH TO THOSE THAT HONOR THE FORFATHERS, FORGIVENESS TO THOSE THAT NEED GUIDANCE IN HOW TO HANDLE GETTING THE FUNDS TO BUILD THE CHURCH WITHOUT SELLING OUT THE FOUNDERS DREAM.

Anonymous said...

I can't help thinking your diocese doesn't support the Brotherhood owning the property. If they did this wouldn't be happening. It is sad, but what can you do about it?

Karen said...

Received Anonymously and edited.

The diocese has nothing to do with the ownership of the property as the brotherhood has owned it as deeded since 1937.

The reason it was established in this manner was to ensure that the diocese could not sell the land as done in the Catholic churches in the early 30's. For this reason the founders created the brotherhood, and deeded the property to this brotherhood and then leased to land to the Holy Ghost Church. The immigrants at that time, with the help of Mr. Reeves and his attorneys worked this brilliant concept into a legal document and form which now, the officers are suing to break.

WE all pray people realize the goal is to keep what the founders wanted for their holy church.

Anonymous said...

I am wondering how many other ACROD churches have this agreement> Do they each have a 'Brotherhood' or is this unique to Holy Ghost? If they don't- are the other church properties owned by the diocese?
It is my guess that the diocese would prefer control of all church properties, but that would be my guess- knowing how organizations such as these are run.
Does anyone know these details?

Anonymous said...

Why didn't the letter received by all parishioner last week, dated 7-20-08 inform the parishioners of the lawsuit filed by the officers as signed by the President of the church on file with the county as it was filed and signed prior to the letter dated 7/20/08?

Why didn't the lawsuit and newspaper announcing this against their own people, get approved by the congregation or at minimum explained since it affect using finances of the church?

How can the officers send a letter on their full disclosure and honesty, when many on this council did not vote nor understand this was being done?

Isn't anyone wondering how their dues and restricted funds are being managed with all the costs involved in advertising and suing their own people?

incognito said...

i love it when people try to understand the good order of the church (it's rules and regulations) in the civil sense. it makes for tons of confusion.

but alas, the HGC has been functioning on behalf of the SNB for years (since it is defunct as a governing body and has not operated according to its own by-laws and what not)

I look t this as house cleaning - kinda like throwing out and old insurance policy that is from the 1960s and certainly would not and could not be in effect today, because you know...things change.

what makes this even more precarious is that people in the public, who have no real idea how much different the Orthodox Church is from the Catholic Church automatically throw all the blame on the Church and her hierarchy. When in fact, it is the people who fail to work as a group for the glory of God and that might not always jive with what our emotions and sentimental leanings tell us to do. Ah, the church is spiritual and it is religious, just because of something like this - you can't throw it under the bus. Why? because we can go rounds all day about the Protestants, the Methodists, the Catholics, Presbyterians and so on and so forth. I think A. Nonymous' (08/07 at 4:28PM) comment about the hierarchy is inappropriate and extremely distatseful. It's quite obvious that he/she/it lacks total understanding of obedience in the Orthodox Church.

Oh, by the way, there is no communion rail in the Orthodox Church. Someone needs a history lesson.

No one is being sued for money you silly people. But you know what they say about to many cooks in the kitchen.

Again, my dear sweetest Karen, accepting donations on behalf of a few malcontents is only exacerbating the wounds. If someone is collecting money on behalf of La Resistance (said with a French accent), then that person's contact information should be posted here if so many anonymous people are clamoring for openness and transparency. WHY is it that noone wants to take the high ground on that? I digress.

Anonymous said...

Can the poster be more forthcoming? This plays out like a mystery novel. What did the letter say?
How can the readers support this when we have no idea what you are referring to?

Karen said...

Incognito, my contact information is on the page which opens when you reply to a thread.

In regards to transparency, my name is on the header of my blog, and we are listed in the telephone book.

I really can't get any more transparent than I already am.

Anonymous said...

Ingognito

Aren't there valuable insurance policies that are from 60's worth money today ?

Doesn't litigation by a church board cost the parish money? If members have to defend the active organization which owns property since inception, won't that in essence cost money as well of which most likely results in use of dues or restricted funds?

Perhaps being out of state as you originally posted, you only receive what others want you to hear as typically people only tell others their version of history, fact and truth.

Please remember your founders and benefactors labors of love and pray for healing instead of discussing things you really have no idea about being out of state, the parish and the congregation for years, as posted in other many posts.

God Bless you and keep you in his loving care. May your focus be on the future of your own parish and people as it seems this upsets you deeply and with that may not understand the many, many families who are suffering over this situation.

Karen said...

Received anonymously and edited.

Incognito

"It's quite obvious that he/she/it lacks total understanding of obedience in the Orthodox Church."

You might be right. I am learning what it means up close and personal by watching this whole situation go down, LOL.

Is it any wonder so many have decided to throw religion under the bus?

Anonymous said...

The majority body of The Saint Nicholas Brotherhood composed and sent a mailing of the lawsuit as printed in the Evening Phoenix to inform all parishioners of the pending issue regarding ownership and legal action by the parish council against the ST Nicholas Brotherhood who is the owner of record of the property, and separate entity.

In the church newsletter dated, Sunday, August 17, 2008 a statement was made on behalf of the parish board contradicting the newspaper civil suit as posted on this site and in the newspaper from Aug 5 - Aug 10.

Quote: "Nor is anyone in the parish being sued by the church. We believe that any letter sent by someone who refuses to acknowledge their own words suggest that only half truths or outright lies are contained in the letter. Considering the source, or lack there of - we should all simply ignore the letter.

1) The last mailing by the parish council, was not signed nor listed any names of officers of this council nor contact information on who to call if you disagreed with the events to date. Is this not someone refusing to acknowledge their own words or actions?

2) Is it not true, that if you are named a defendant and listed as being sued and offered legal aid, you are thereby involved in a lawsuit as posted in the newspaper for five days in a row for an extremely high cost to the parish?

3) Is it fair for the minority of the parish (18%) who voted to have the property sold to generate funds for a addition, to spend church dues and/or restricted funds for the ongoing legal advise, attendance at borough meetings and advertisements regarding lawsuits against their own brotherhood?

4) How can the church not have any money to pay landscapers but cover the costs for people to go on bowling tournaments for drinking and hotel rooms for long weekends?

5) If the church is in financial trouble, shouldn't they begin the bingo's, fairs food sales, picnics and many many other events that all went toward the bills of the church?

6) Why is the church only including people who agree with the sale of the land in children activities and trips?

Please pray for answers and fairness.

incognito said...

what was that last rant all about? can someone from La Resistance please be coherent with their thoughts?

Drinking? Hotel rooms? Childrens trips? legal aid? cost of advertising (as legally required to do so)?

What was all that gibberish? Man up for crying out loud.

Anonymous said...

According to the transcript of HOLY GHOST CHURCH VS SAINT NICHOLAS BROTHERHOOD:

Alex Breno Treasurer testied to expenditures of thousands of dollars on the social senter project.

NOTE: THE CHURCH PARISH HAS NEVER VOTED TO BUILD A SOCIAL CENTER AS OF THEIR LAST CONGREGATIONAL MEETING. NOR WERE THEY ADVISED OF IMPENDING PLANS FOR EVANS HUD PROJECT UNITL A FEW WEEKS AFTER THIS MEETING.

The next parish meeting is SUPERBOWEL SUNDAY at the Social Center. If you want to speak and vote you must be a member in good standing however, anyone can attend. Pray for new leadership and vision for this suffering flock.

Anonymous said...

I love that poster "incognito". The one who keeps talking about transparenncy and "man"ing up. Maybe you are willing to share your identity ? It is clear, that since you are such a strong supporter of the church and the hierarchy, you risk little in telling everyone who you are. From what I read, voicing a dissenting opinion is severly penalized, so I get why those folks want to stay anonymous.

I particularly liked you comment about looking at this like a house cleaning. The first thing that comes to mind is a person who lives in filth but washes the windows - one persons spring cleaning is another's racketeering !

I remember when my mom would do spring cleaning, the best part was opening all the door s and windows and letting that fresh breeze thru the house. Maybe you can convinve you bretheren to open up all the doors and window, hold open meetings (as opposed to the meeting after the meeting), inform all the parishioners, show accounting transparency (what is this effort really costing and who is paying for it), what is the money trail (that will reveal a lot).

...or you can just let them keep washing the windows while the animal droppings continue to pile up inside, hidden from view....

...just a thought.