All Saints Rochester: NY court hears dispute over church ownership

September 9, 2008

ALBANY, N.Y. - New York's top court is set to hear arguments over whether the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester owns the property of the former All Saints Episcopal Church, which quit supporting the diocese and the Episcopal Church of the USA after the 2003 ordination of a gay bishop in New Hampshire.

In November 2005, a majority of delegates at a Rochester diocesan convention voted to end their relationship with All Saints in suburban Irondequoit. The diocese has since sold the building to another denomination. The All Saints congregation has been meeting at a Lutheran church in Rochester.

Arguments were scheduled Tuesday at the Court of Appeals. Trial and midlevel appeals courts sided with the diocese, concluding it was entitled to the property under rules adopted by the National Church in 1979. story