Church files petition with Supreme Court

The Newport Beach Anglican church embroiled in a bitter property dispute with the Episcopal Church filed a petition with the United States Supreme Court on Wednesday.

St. James Anglican Church will ask the court to resolve whether the 1st Amendment of the Constitution protects church property ownership. In the case, the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles claims it has a right to keep St. James’ Newport Beach church after it left the Episcopal Church in 2004 over differing views on theology and homosexuality. The California Supreme Court ruled in favor of the diocese in January.

The church expects to get an answer on whether the high court will hear the property dispute by September or October. The court could reach a decision as early as summer 2010 if it decides take up the matter.

St. James became one of three conservative Southern California parishes that placed themselves under the jurisdiction of a Ugandan bishop after the Episcopal Church consecrated a gay bishop in 2003. Other Episcopal bishops began sanctioning gay marriages about the same time.

The break led to a highly publicized property dispute over whether the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles or the St. James’ congregation owned the white stucco church, which stands across the street from Newport Harbor on the Balboa Peninsula.

— Brianna Bailey