Church members sue Episcopal Diocese over reservation land on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

The history of the Episcopal Church on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is a fascinating one, and I spent time in seminary doing some research on the mission work of the Episcopal Church there. My aunt and uncle spent time in Oglala teaching during the 1970s and I have some second-hand knowledge of the people and the land there. I was very interested when I saw the following article come across my news feed today and will be looking with keen eyes to learn more about this situation. Take a look at the article, and let me know if you hear more!

~ Rev. Peter M. Carey

from the Rapid City Journal, South Dakota

Church members sue Episcopal Diocese over reservation land

By Mary Garrigan, Rapid City Journal staff

Members of 11 Episcopal churches on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation have filed lawsuits in Oglala Sioux tribal court asking that the Episcopal Diocese of South Dakota be prevented from closing their churches and from deconsecrating buildings and cemeteries in the process.

On Monday, the executive committee of the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council also unanimously approved a resolution stating that the diocese should return those properties to the tribe in compliance with federal laws that govern the use of reservation lands for missionary or educational works.

The rite of deconsecrating a church allows that building to be used for secular purposes, but it would not necessarily prevent it from being used as a church again at some point.

The legal papers were served Monday at the diocesan offices in Sioux Falls but had not been signed by a tribal judge as of Tuesday. The plaintiffs seek an immediate hearing to stop the closures.

Diocesan lawyer Steven Sanford of Sioux Falls had not seen the five-page tribal resolution Tuesday, but he said the diocese agrees with that principle and doesn't intend to sell the properties. "It has always been our intention that if these properties aren't used as missions of the Episcopal Church, that they would be, in one way or another, turned over to the tribe or to some other group locally," Sanford said. "It's not the diocese's intention whatsoever to sell them to a McDonald's or to some other denomination."

Sanford said he expected the situation to be resolved soon.

"The people who are responsible for the suit, to the extent that they want the land kept local, they didn't need to sue us to have that happen," he said.

The diocese cited low attendance and financial issues as reasons for closing the following churches Nov. 30: Christ Church at Red Shirt Table; St. John's at Oglala, Epiphany at Wolf Creek; St. Andrew's at Wakpamni Lake; St. Thomas at Manderson; St. Barnabas at Kyle; St. Timothy's at Potato Creek; St. Alban's at Porcupine; and Inestimable Gift at Allen. The lawsuits also involve two churches that will move to "station" status, or part-time use: St. Julia's at Porcupine and Advent at Calico.

Those impending closures would leave five Episcopal churches open on the reservation in Pine Ridge, Kyle, Batesland, Wanblee and Martin.

The Rev. Robert Two Bulls, pastor of Christ Church, said Tuesday that historically, one-third of the Pine Ridge reservation's residents were baptized Episcopalians.

He said his congregation would continue to meet for church services, regardless of legal issues.

"We don't want to just let our churches go. We want to go down fighting," Two Bulls said.

Read it all HERE

VTS Welcomes Rev. Two Bulls as Leader in Residence

Rev. Robert Two Bulls is a "leader in residence" at VTS for the next two weeks. I have met him a couple of times and he is a wonderful priest and leader in our church. In addition, he and his wife were members of the Cathedral Volunteer Service Community a few years before I was. The CVSC was the Internship Community about which I wrote an article for The Episcopal Cafe recently. I am glad that VTS has asked Rev. Two Bulls to campus, and I am sure that those who take the time to meet him will learn from him.

VTS Welcomes Rev. Two Bulls as Leader in Residence

4.18.08

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact: Susan Shillinglaw
Tel: 703-461-1764
Email: sshillinglaw@vts.edu

ALEXANDRIA, VA - Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS) welcomes to campus today the Rev. Robert W. Two Bulls as a 2008 Leader in Residence fellow. Two Bulls, an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota Oyate and resident of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, currently serves as Vicar of All Saints Indian Mission and Director of Indian Work for the Diocese of Minnesota.

After receiving his M.Div. in 2000 from General Theological Seminary, Two Bulls served as the curate—then Assistant Rector following ordination in 2001—at The Episcopal Church of St. George in Los Angeles, California. In addition to his work at St. George’s, Two Bulls was named the Missioner for Native Americans in the Diocese of Los Angeles, home to the largest urban Native American Indian population in the United States. In 2003, Two Bulls accepted a call to join the staff of the Rt. Rev. Jon Bruno, bishop of the Diocese of Los Angeles, to begin a full-time ministry as the Program Officer for Native American Ministries.

Two Bulls has served on numerous local, diocesan and national committees within the Episcopal Church and currently sits on the boards of the Executive Council Committee for Indigenous Ministries, the Episcopal Peace Fellowship, the Episcopal Evangelical Society and The Phelps Stokes Foundation. He is also the founder of The Red Shirt Project which promotes cross cultural relationships and understanding between different communities in the Christian context. For the past seven summers, Two Bulls has led journeys with young adults to the Pine Ridge Reservation and is planning an eighth visit this summer.

In addition to being an artist, avid reader and music lover, Two Bulls is married to Ritchie Robertson and has two children, a son (11) and a daughter (8). He will be on campus for the next two weeks.

The Leader in Residence Program is a two-week fellowship offered to clergy and lay leaders of color who reside in the United States and are involved in active ministry. The purpose of the fellowship is to provide a leader, who may not otherwise have an opportunity for a sabbatical or time away from his or her ministries, with a time for rest and reflection.

The Leader in Residence program is made possible through the Racial and Ethnic Diversity Initiative and a grant from the Carpenter Foundation. Virginia Theological Seminary will offer two, two-week fellowships in 2008. For more information, contact the Rev. Joseph M. Constant, director of Ethnic Ministries and Community Life, at (703) 461-1765 or by email at jconstant@vts.edu.

Virginia Theological Seminary, founded in 1823, is the largest of the 11 accredited seminaries of the Episcopal Church. The school prepares men and women, representing all eight of the domestic provinces of the Episcopal Church, as well as students from several different provinces and countries within the Anglican Communion, for service in the Church, both as ordained and lay ministers, and offers a number of professional degree programs and diplomas.