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Appeals Court Reverses Decision On Validity of Replacing Episcopal Bishop

By Howard M. Friedman

In Schofield v. Superior Court of Fresno County, (CA App., Nov. 18, 2010), a California appellate court held that in a lawsuit brought by the Episcopal Church to establish its title to property of the break-away San Joaquin Diocese, the trial court must apply neutral principles of law to determine ownership of the property.  It held that the trial court had erred in preliminarily deciding who is the rightful bishop of the Diocese of San Joaquin. The trial court had approached the issue by deciding that the Diocese's attempt to withdraw from the national church was ineffective and that therefore the national church's replacement of the incumbent bishop John-David Schofield by Jerry A. Lamb as provisional bishop was valid.  The Court of Appeals held instead that the validity of the removal and appointment of a bishop is a matter of ecclesiastical law as to which the determination of the Episcopal Church controls. So the issue remaining for the trial court is the validity of property transfers allegedly made by Schofield before he was replaced. That is to be decided by reference to "general California statutory and common law principles governing transfer of title by the legal title holder, the law of trusts, including the establishment of trusts and transfers by a trustee in contravention of a trust upon the property (if a trust is established by the evidence), and corporations law...." (See prior related posting.) Anglican Curmudgeon discusses the decision and the controversy over its implications at length.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on November 20, 2010 (boomark / email).