Homophobic Churches Reigned In By Episcopalians

Posted in Gay/Lesbian News

In an exhaustive 77-page ruling, a California Court of
Appeal has ruled in favor of the Episcopal Church and
the Diocese of Los Angeles and against three Episcopal
congregations voted to leave the Episcopal Church and
join Anglican Province of Uganda. The decision, which
overturns rulings by a lower court, comes in the first
of the recent cases brought to recover Episcopal
Church property retained by congregations now calling
themselves St. James Anglican Church, Newport Beach;
All Saints' Anglican Church, Long Beach; and St.
David's Anglican Church, North Hollywood. The
congregations voted in August 2004 to amend their
articles of incorporation, and maintain that they are
now part of the Anglican Province of Uganda.

The trial court had ruled in favor of the departing
congregations in August 2005. But the Fourth District
Court of Appeal, in an exhaustive 77-page review of
U.S. Supreme Court and California appellate decisions
as well as a pertinent California statute, held that
where a hierarchical church -- such as the Episcopal
Church -- has determined that the real and personal
property of subordinate bodies must be used and
maintained for the benefit of the larger church, the
courts in California must respect and enforce that
determination. via Gay Religion: news of religion and
GLBT folks