Dio. of Northern California: Lawsuit against St. John's on hold

By PAUL PAYNE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Tuesday, July 29, 2008

A lawsuit over ownership of a Petaluma church was postponed Monday to await the outcome of a similar case before the California Supreme Court.

Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Lloyd von der Mehden said in a tentative ruling that motions in the case brought by the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California against the breakaway St. John's Anglican Church would be continued to Dec. 2.

The diocese sued the congregation in February after it split from the church in objection to gay ordinations, but retained the 117-year-old church building on 5th and C streets. the rest