Calif. court sides with church over property 3 parishes split from Episcopal Church over ordination of gay ministers
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) | Rebecca Armendariz | Jan 5, 2:25 PM
The state's high court has prohibited three Southern California
parishes who left the U.S. Episcopal Church over its ordination of gay
ministers from retaining ownership of their church buildings and
property.
In a unanimous decision, the California Supreme Court
ruled that the property belongs to the Episcopal church because the
parishes agreed to abide by the mother church's rules, which includes
specific language about property ownership.
St. James Church in
Newport Beach, All Saints Church in Long Beach and St. David's Church
in North Hollywood pulled out of the 2.1 million member national
Episcopal Church in 2004 and sought to retain property ownership.
Since
2003, four dioceses and dozens of individual churches have split,
setting off bitter legal feuds over division of property.
