Church ordered to forfeit property

St. James Church, which broke ties with the Episcopal diocese three years ago, must forfeit its property in Newport Beach, according to an appellate court ruling Tuesday that reversed a 2005 decision.

A three-judge panel in Orange County Superior Court ruled the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, which sued in 2004 after three churches dropped "Episcopal" from their names, had the right to take over the churches' property after the split. The churches had dissociated themselves from the larger denomination because of what they perceived as its liberal attitudes toward homosexuality, the divinity of Jesus and the supremacy of the Bible.

Cathie Young, St. James' pastor for discipleship, and attorney Eric Sohlgren said Tuesday they were dismayed by the court's decision and were considering appealing to the state Supreme Court.

"We're just going step by step on this," Young said. "We're dealing, of course, with our congregation and their response, and that's a concern for us right now."

Sohlgren said the decision went against the precedents that California courts had followed for years regarding disputes over the ownership of church property.

"It is contrary to almost 30 years of court decisions in California, which say that these kind of church property disputes should be resolved by looking at who owns the property, who owns the deed, did the local church ever promise to turn their property over to the local denomination if they left," he said. "What these three judges are saying is that we don't need to look at the deeds, we don't have to look at who bought the property or who maintained it. All we have to look at is whether the denomination passed a rule saying that they get to use the local church property."

Efforts to reach the diocese were unsuccessful late Tuesday.