141-252083-11 NO. 141-252083-11 THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH, et al. § IN THE DISTRICT COURT § v. § TARRANT COUNTY, TEXAS § FRANKLIN SALAZAR, et al. § 141ST JUDICIAL DISTRICT AFFIDAVIT OF JACK L. IKER On this day personally appeared before me Jack L. Iker, who, after being placed under oath, stated the following: (1) My name is Jack L. Iker. My business address is 2900 Alemeda Street, Fort Worth, Texas 76108. (2) I am Bishop of The Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth (“the Diocese”), and have served in that capacity since January 1, 1995, after being consecrated as bishop coadjutor on April 24, 1993. (3) I am a custodian of the records of the Diocese and am familiar with the manner in which its records are created and maintained by virtue of my duties and responsibilities. Exhibits 1 through 7 attached to this affidavit and described below are true and correct copies of the original records of the Diocese. It is the regular practice of the Diocese to make and/or keep these records in the course of the regularly conducted business of the Diocese based on information known to or transmitted by a person with personal knowledge of the matters therein at or near the time they occur or are received. (4) The Diocese is an unincorporated Texas nonprofit association formed in Fort Worth, Texas by local clergy and laity on November 13, 1982.1 It is governed by 1 JA00097, -101 (1982 FW Const. Preamble). “JA” citations refer the parties’ Joint Appendix. AFFIDAVIT OF JACK L. IKER PAGE 1 141-252083-11 its Constitution and Canons as amended from time to time,2 and by its Annual Convention.3 (5) After it was formed, the Diocese was admitted into union with TEC on December 31, 1982.4 TEC did not form the Diocese, has never been an officer or member of it, and has never exercised any direct control over it. (6) Under the Diocese’s Constitution and Canons, title to all real estate acquired for the use of churches in the Diocese is vested in a corporation known as “Corporation of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth” (“the Corporation”), and is held in trust for the use and benefit of the individual congregations using those properties.5 The Diocese’s Constitution and Canons have never had any provision creating a trust for the benefit of TEC. (7) Attached as Exhibit 1 are excerpts from the Journal of the Diocese’s 1989 Convention, which reflect the adoption of amendments to the Diocese’s Constitution and Canons that expressly repudiate any trust in favor of TEC.6 TEC’s rules required the Diocese to forward a copy of this Journal to representatives of TEC’s General Convention and to TEC’s archives in Austin, Texas.7 (8) Attached as Exhibit 2 are excerpts from the Journal of the Diocese’s 1992 Convention, which reflect my election as Bishop Coadjutor, with the right of 2 See JA00097–164 (1982 version); JA00165–246 (2006 version). 3 See JA00102 (1982 FW Const. Art. 2); JA00174 (2006 FW Const. Art. 2). 4 See JA00063 5 See JA00113 (1982 FW Const. Art. 13); JA00186 (2006 FW Const. Art. 14). 6 See Exhibit 1, pp. 21-22, 26-27, 70-71. 7 See JA00396 (1979 TEC Canon I.5.3); JA00457 & JA00483 (2006 TEC Canons I.1.1 & I.6.5). AFFIDAVIT OF JACK L. IKER PAGE 2 141-252083-11 succession as Bishop of the Diocese, in accordance with the rules of the Diocese. In accordance with the Constitution and Canons of the Diocese and of TEC, election by the Diocese’s convention is the only procedure for selecting a Bishop for the Diocese.8 According to the records of the Diocese, no other person has been elected Bishop of the Diocese since my election. I have at no time resigned or abandoned my position as Bishop of this Diocese. Nothing in the Diocese’s charters allow removal of the bishop by anyone. Nothing in TEC’s charters allow removal of a local bishop by the Presiding Bishop of TEC. (9) Attached as Exhibits 3 and 4 are excerpts from the Journals of the Diocese’s 2007 and 2008 Conventions, respectively. They reflect that delegates to those Conventions voted overwhelmingly to remove references to The Episcopal Church from the Constitution. At the 2007 Convention, the proposal to remove accession to the Constitution and Canons of TEC passed by a vote of 69 to 14 among resident clergy (83%) and by a vote of 95 to 28 among lay delegates (77%).9 After “laying over” for a year as required by the Constitution,10 the same amendment was adopted at the 2008 Convention by a vote of 72 to 19 among resident clergy (78%) and by a vote of 102 to 25 among lay delegates (80%).11 (10) No special convention was called in 2009 by me as the Diocese’s Bishop or by the Standing Committee of the Diocese. According to the records of the Diocese, the members of the Standing Committee at that time were Judy Mayo, Dr. Franklin 8 See JA00189 (2006 Const. Art. 17); JA00116 (1982 FW Const. Art. 16). 9 See Exhibit 3, pp. 80, 93 (vote on Amendment D). 10 Amendments to the Diocese’s Constitution (but not Canons) must be approved by majority vote of delegates at two consecutive Annual Conventions. See JA00117 (1982 FW Const. Art. 17); JA00190- 191 (2006 FW Const. Arts. 18 & 19). 11 See Exhibit 4, pp. 49, 82 (vote on Amendment to Article I). AFFIDAVIT OF JACK L. IKER PAGE 3 141-252083-11 Salazar, Walter Virden, the Rev. Christopher Cantrell, the Rev. Timothy Perkins, and the Rev. Thomas Hightower. All were lay persons in good standing of a parish or mission in the Diocese or members of the clergy canonically resident within the Diocese. (11) Attached as Exhibit 5 are excerpts from the annual Journals of the Diocese from 2004 through 2014, which show the following Defendants were elected as Trustees of the Corporation for five-year terms beginning in the years noted: 2005 JoAnn Patton 2010 JoAnn Patton 2006 Chad Bates 2011 Chad Bates 2007 Dr. Franklin Salazar 2012 Dr. Franklin Salazar 2008 Walter Virden, III 2013 Walter Virden, III 2009 Rod Barber 2014 Rod Barber Each of these persons is and has been at all relevant times a lay person in good standing of a parish or mission in the Diocese. No other individuals have been elected as a Trustee to the board of the Corporation, and none has been removed by majority vote of the board nor resigned. (12) None of the Individual Plaintiffs who are alleged to be Trustees of the Corporation have been either lay persons in good standing of a parish or mission in the Diocese or members of the clergy canonically resident within the Diocese since 2009. According to the records of the Diocese: (a) the Rt. Rev. Rayford B. High, Jr. has never been canonically resident within the Diocese; (b) Robert M. Bass, Cherie Shipp, and Dr. Trace Worrell are members of parishes that are no longer in union with the Diocese; and (c) the Rev. James Hazel and the Rev. John Stanley withdrew from the Diocese following the 2008 Annual Convention, were removed from canonical good standing in the Diocese on February 5, 2009, (see Exhibit 6), and have not requested readmission to canonical residency since then. AFFIDAVIT OF JACK L. IKER PAGE 4 141-252083-11 (13) None of the Individual Plaintiffs who are alleged to be Trustees of the Endowment for the Episcopate have been either lay persons in good standing of a parish or mission in the Diocese or members of the clergy canonically resident within the Diocese since 2009. According to the records of the Diocese: (a) Robert Hicks, Floyd McKneely, Shannon Shipp, David Skelton, Whit Smith, and Anne T. Bass are members of parishes that are no longer in union with the Diocese; and (b) the Rev. James Hazel withdrew from the Diocese following the 2008 Annual Convention, was removed from canonical good standing in the Diocese on February 5, 2009, (see Exhibit 6), and has not requested readmission to canonical residency since then. (14) None of the remaining Individual Plaintiffs who are alleged to be officers of the Diocese are qualified to serve as such, as they have been neither lay persons in good standing of a parish or mission in the Diocese nor members of the clergy canonically resident within the Diocese since 2009. According to the records of the Diocese: (a) Margaret Mieuli, Walt Cabe, Anne T. Bass, and Kathleen Wells are members of parishes that are no longer in union with the Diocese; and (b) the Rev. J. Frederick Barber, the Rev. David Madison, and the Rev. Christopher Jambor withdrew from the Diocese following the 2008 Annual Convention, were removed from canonical good standing in the Diocese on February 5, 2009, (see Exhibit 6), and have not requested readmission to canonical residency since then. (15) From many years of prior service, I am very familiar with the Constitution and Canons of TEC in effect from 1982 until November of 2008. My review of those documents reflects the following: it is a voluntary affiliation of dioceses, with no provision for membership by individual persons or parishes; it prohibits anyone but the locally elected authorities (either the local bishop or the local Standing Committee) from performing “episcopal acts” in the diocese, such as calling a diocesan convention: AFFIDAVIT OF JACK L. IKER PAGE 5 141-252083-11 it does not prohibit a diocese from disaffiliating with TEC; it contained no requirement for dioceses to make an “unqualified accession” to TEC until January 1, 1983; it contains no provision creating an irrevocable trust over local church property for TEC’s benefit; it contains no provision allowing the Presiding Bishop to remove a local bishop solely on her own authority; it contains no provision that a diocese or parish forfeits its property to TEC upon disaffiliation or removal of a local bishop; it contains no provision addressing a local corporation that holds a diocese’s property; and it contains no provisions for control of such a corporation or its directors, and does not impose a confidential or fiduciary relationship in favor of TEC upon them.