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California Court Says Episcopal Church Owns Break-Away Parish's Property

By Howard M. Friedman

In Huber v. Jackson, (CA Ct. App., June 9, 2009), a California appellate court held that the Episcopal Church and its Diocese of Los Angeles are the owners of the property of St. Luke's parish. The congregants of St. Luke's voted in 2006 to break away from the Episcopal Church and affiliate with the more conservative Anglican Church of Uganda. Applying "neutral principles" of law (as required by a recent California Supreme Court decision), the court found that St. Luke's had agreed to be bound by the governing documents of the Episcopal church, and this includes Canon I.7.4 which provides that all parish property is held in trust for the national church and its diocese:

as a matter of law that when defendants voted for disaffiliation, they denounced their prior promises to be subject to the governing documents of the national church and the diocese, abandoned their membership in the corporation, and lost the power and authority to be directors of the corporation, as they were no longer members in good standing of the Episcopal Church. Thus, their purported amendment of the articles of incorporation and bylaws to make the corporation part of the Anglican Church were a legal nullity, or ultra vires.

The court also rejected the argument that a 1981 decision collaterally estopped the Episcopal Church from asserting title to parish property.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on June 11, 2009 (boomark / email).