ENS: LONG ISLAND: Court rules for diocese, wider church in property case
By Mary Frances Schjonberg
March 26, 2008

[Episcopal News Service] The Supreme Court of Queens County, New York, recently ruled that the property of St. James' Episcopal Church, Elmhurst, is held in trust for the Diocese of Long Island and the Episcopal Church.

The majority of the members of St. James, Elmhurst voted in March 2005 to leave the Episcopal Church and join the Anglican Church in America. Those members formed what is now known as St. James Anglican Church, which is listed on the Anglican Church in America's website.

The departing members then sued the diocese and the Episcopal Church, asking for a ruling that neither entity had an interest in the parish property. The dissidents relied heavily on the fact that the parish was originally established as a part of the Church of England, arguing that the parish predated the Episcopal Church and they were therefore independent of the church and free to leave. St. James Church was founded in 1704 and officially chartered in 1761 by King George III. It was the first parish in Elmhurst, called Newtown in colonial times.
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