Episcopalian dispute goes to Conn. Supreme Court

Associated Press
February 9, 2011

HARTFORD, Conn. — Lawyers for a local parish and the Episcopal Church have clashed before the Connecticut Supreme Court over whether the parish can keep its building and land after breaking ties with the national church.

The court on Wednesday heard the case of the Bishop Seabury Church in Groton, which voted to split from the national Episcopal Church in 2007 because of changes in the church's theology and the appointment of a gay bishop in New Hampshire in 2003.

Justices didn't rule Wednesday.

The 135-year-old parish is appealing a lower court judge's ruling that awarded the property to the state diocese and national church. the rest