Three former congregations of the Diocese of Los Angeles that left The Episcopal Church for the Church of Uganda have asked the California Supreme Court to decide whether they or the diocese own their properties.

In an appeal filed on Aug. 6, St. James’, Newport Beach; All Saints’, Long Beach; and St. David’s, North Hollywood, asked the state’s Supreme Court to overturn a June 25 ruling by the Fourth Appellate District of the California Court of Appeal that found the Diocese of Los Angeles controlled the parish property.

The trial court in Orange County held that under the neutral principle of law, the language of the deed and not church polity controlled ownership of the church real estate. However, the Los Angeles-based appeals court overturned the trial court, arguing “The right of the general church in this case to enforce a trust on the local parish property is clear.”

John R. Shiner, chancellor for the diocese and its attorney in the litigation, said the ruling “should dispel any notion that local congregations of a hierarchical church may leave the larger church and take property with them.”

The Los Angeles appellate court’s decision overturned 30 years of California case law on church property disputes, and conflicts with a decision reached by a second California appeals court in Sacramento. While the California Supreme Court is not required to hear the case, the conflicting rulings by appellate courts in Los Angeles and Sacramento make intervention likely.

Eric C. Sohlgren, the legal spokesman for the congregations, said the Los Angeles decision “has given big institutional churches a power greater than eminent domain, and thrown this area of law into turmoil and uncertainty. California courts, religious corporations, and church members are now left with a patchwork of conflicting court decisions governing ownership of church property.

“We are asking the Supreme Court to intervene and declare explicitly that California courts are to apply neutral principles of law in resolving church property disputes,” he said.

(The Rev.) George Conger

We invite your response to this article through a Letter to the Editor. Email your letter to tlc@livingchurch.org. Please include your name, city and state.

To find more news, feature articles, and commentary about the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion not available online, read The Living Church magazine each week. Call 1-800-211-2771 to start your subscription.