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The New York Times
Church Dissidents
Lose Property Appeal
By NEELA BANERJEE,
nytimes.com on the Web, June 28, 2007
Three congregations that broke away
from the Episcopal Church over the appointment of a gay bishop are not entitled
to property claimed by the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, a California
appeals court has ruled.
In a unanimous decision on Monday overturning a lower court ruling, a
three-judge panel supported the diocese’s assertion that the property —
buildings and other items — did not belong to the individual congregations, but
was held in trust for the diocese and the Episcopal Church, the American arm of
the worldwide Anglican Communion.
State property laws vary to such an extent that legal experts say the ruling
will probably not set a precedent in similar disputes around the country, where
other congregations have broken with the Episcopal Church. But they also
said the ruling’s encyclopedic discussion of church property precedents,
especially in California, could make it a persuasive resource in other cases.
“This is a very scholarly opinion, and trial judges know when a decision is more
learned,” said L. Martin Nussbaum, a Colorado Springs lawyer representing the
Episcopal Diocese of Colorado in a dispute with a breakaway parish. “This
will have persuasion beyond its jurisdiction and will have persuasion beyond the
state of California.”
In August 2004, All Saints Church in Long Beach, St. James Church in Newport
Beach and St. David’s Church in North Hollywood voted to leave the Los Angeles
Diocese and the Episcopal Church. Their departure stemmed from a dispute
over biblical authority and interpretation that culminated a year earlier with
the church’s consecration of V. Gene Robinson, a gay man in a long-term
relationship, as bishop of New Hampshire. The churches placed themselves
under the authority of Anglican bishops overseas.
The dispute over homosexuality has frayed relations between the Episcopal Church
and many other provinces in the Anglican Communion, which has 77 million
members. It has also prompted about four dozen American congregations to
split from the church since 2003; many of them are involved in similar lawsuits
over church property.
Eric Sohlgren, the lead lawyer for the three parishes, said the decision was an
anomaly, and that it contradicted nearly 30 years of legal precedent in the
state. Mr. Sohlgren said the congregations were considering an appeal to
the State Supreme Court.
Jim Robb, a spokesman for the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, a
Nigerian diocese in the United States that offers oversight to disaffected
Episcopal congregations, said that he did not think the California decision
would deter other parishes from leaving the Episcopal Church.
“We hope churches will be allowed to take their property, but churches will
follow their convictions,” Mr. Robb said. “This dispute is not about
property, land or money.”
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