St James' attempt to secede from the diocese, Bishop Bennison declared the parish "inactive or extinct" and initiated litigation to seize its property. In 2003, the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas ruled that the attempted merger of St. James the Less with the CSJL Foundation was ultra vires and invalid, that the vestry was "ineligible to continue in their offices," and that the diocese could appoint or elect a new vestry. St. James lost two subsequent appeals, first to Commonwealth Court and then to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Pursuant to the Supreme Court's decision, the diocese assumed control of the St. James property, and the congregation left to form an independent church. Dispute with the Church of the Good Shepherd, Rosemont Fr. David Moyer, Rector (1989–2011) of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Rosemont, Pennsylvania, was alleged to have refused to allow Bennison to make canonically-required episcopal visitations to Good Shepherd, saying the bishop "was too liberal and could not be trusted in the pulpit." The charge, however, was disputed by Moyer and by the Vestry of the Church of the Good Shepherd, who insisted that they only advised Bishop Bennison that a visit would not be helpful. Bennison was specifically invited to visit with the Vestry and to inspect the books and records of the Parish, which would have fulfilled his canonical responsibility. Moyer was publicly critical of Bennison's public statements regarding the veracity of the Bible and sexual teachings, denouncing Bennison's teachings as "apostate and heretical" In March 2002, Bennison approved a decision by the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Pennsylvania to inhibit Moyer from exercising his priestly functions for six months under the canons of the church. In April 2002, Moyer sought help from bishops in the Anglican Communion as they gathered for pre-arranged meetings in London. The office of the Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, "indicated that were David Moyer to be in a position of seeking permission, he would have no hesitation in giving him permission to officiate in the Diocese of Canterbury"; since Carey was scheduled to retire that October, however, the issue would have to be resolved by his successor, Rowan Williams. Moyer not having recanted, but insisting that he had not left the Episcopal Church as charged by Bennison, within the six-month period of inhibition, at the conclusion of the canonical inhibition Bennison deposed Moyer on September 4,