Episcopal Diocese sues Fresno church

Episcopal church fights for St. Columba assets.
Thursday, Mar. 11, 2010
By John Ellis / The Fresno Bee

The Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin on Thursday filed a lawsuit against St. Columba Church that seeks real estate and other assets from the Fresno parish, which was part of a 2007 breakaway movement from the national Episcopal Church.

Already, the diocese has filed similar lawsuits against St. Francis Anglican Church in Turlock and St. Michael's Anglican Church in Ridgecrest, a high desert community in far eastern Kern County. Those parishes also were part of the secession.

"If a person wants to leave [the Episcopal Church], that is their right under the First Amendment, but you don't take property that doesn't belong to you," said the Rev. Jerry Lamb, bishop of the diocese.

The suit against St. Columba, filed in Fresno County Superior Court, and the suits against the other individual parishes are part of a larger legal battle pitting the Episcopal Church against the breakaway Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin. the rest