3 Ex-Episcopal Churches Lose Property Case
Amid a string of lawsuits against churches that severed ties with the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, a state appeals panel ruled in favor of the diocese's claim to the property of three conservative parishes.
A California Court of Appeal's unanimous decision late Monday overturns rulings by a lower court which had ruled in favor of the parishes – St. James Church in Newport Beach, All Saints Church in Long Beach, and St. David's Church in North Hollywood. The ruling is the first of recent cases in the state involving church property, including a fourth lawsuit by the Diocese of Los Angeles and three others by the Diocese of San Diego.
The Rev. Eddi Gibbs, senior professor of church growth at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena and an Episcopal priest, called the ruling "a sad reversal," according to The Los Angeles Times.
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One long-time member of St. James was surprised by Monday's ruling.
"This is a difficult time in the global church in the Anglican community, and the decision of the Diocese of Los Angeles and the national Episcopal Church to proceed with this in court is a deep disappointment to me as an Anglican," said Cathie P. Young, pastor for discipleship at St. James, according to The Los Angeles Times.
St. James and the other two congregations had voted in August 2004 to pull out of the Los Angeles Diocese and The Episcopal Church – the U.S. branch of Anglicanism. They cited The Episcopal Church's departure from Anglican tradition and Christian orthodoxy. The parishes joined the Anglican Province of Uganda.
"In our opinion as orthodox Anglicans ... The Episcopal Church was going in a direction that took them away from Christian core tenets," Young said to the LA Times.
The Diocese of Los Angeles sued the parishes, arguing that the church buildings are held in trust for the diocese and the national Episcopal Church.
While an Orange County trial judge had ruled in favor of the parishes, the Fourth District Court of Appeal held that there is evidence that the "governing instrument" of The Episcopal Church "expressly impresses a trust on the property of a local church corporation," which must be enforced by the courts.
"[T]he right of the general church in this case to enforce a trust on the local parish property is clear," presiding Justice David G. Sills, who wrote for the panel, stated.
Just as the court ruled, the Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, bishop of the Diocese of Los Angeles, stated, "While individuals are always free to leave the Episcopal Church and worship however they please, they do not have the right to take parish property with them."
Eric Sohlgren, lead lawyer for the three parishes, however, argued, "Church property disputes have been looked at through neutral principles: who has the title to the property, who bought it, who maintains it and what state statutes say. What the court said here was that if a hierarchical church wants to take control of local church property, all it has to do is pass a rule."
Sills made clear that the court decision on Monday was confined to the property dispute writing that the broader religious controversy "is irrelevant to this action."
"In a word, the lawsuit brought by the plaintiff general church is a property dispute – basically over who controls a particular church building in Newport Beach," Sills wrote.
The three parishes plan to decide within a week whether to appeal to the California Supreme Court.
