Church battles for land rights
Newport’s St. James argues in Supreme Court it has the right of ownership to church property.
By Brianna Bailey
Nov 20, 2007

Attorneys for St. James Anglican church in Newport Beach recently filed the opening brief in a California Supreme Court property dispute case that could affect churches statewide.

The Newport Beach church, which has severed its ties to the Episcopal Church, hopes to have overturned a July appellate court decision giving control of the church property to the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles County.

“I think some people might think this only involves Episcopal or other hierarchical churches,” said attorney Eric Sohlgren, who represents St. James. “The language of the opinion is so broad, it could be used by any organization of churches to argue that they hold the property, not the local church.” the rest