[Diocese of Maryland] The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland today announced that it has reached an agreement with the Anglican Use Congregation at Mount Calvary, Baltimore, over real and personal property. On October 24, 2010, a majority of members of Mount Calvary voted to leave the Episcopal Church and join the Roman Catholic Church through the newly established Anglican Ordinariate.

Representatives from the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland met for mediation on Nov. 17, 2011, with representatives from Mount Calvary Church and the Joseph Richey House hospice. The Hon. Joseph H. H. Kaplan, a retired judge, served as mediator. Though a settlement was not reached that day, significant progress was made and negotiations continued.

The agreement states that the property currently occupied by Joseph Richey House, a hospice that started as a joint ministry by Mount Calvary and the All Saints’ Sisters of the Poor, will be permanently deeded to Joseph Richey House along with the parking lot shared by the congregation and Joseph Richey House. The Anglican Use Congregation will be deeded the church building, adjacent offices, and rectory, will keep all furnishings and personal property, and will retain the right to use the parking lot shared with Joseph Richey House. The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland will receive a monetary sum as part of the settlement, and will retain first right of refusal if the congregation vacates the property.

The Rev. Canon Scott Slater, a member of the bishops’ staff and part of the mediation team representing the Episcopal diocese, said, “This has been a thoughtful, prayerful, and respectful process by all three entities, and I am pleased that we have reached a solution that meets the needs of all three groups.”