St. James church files counter suit

Marisa O’Neil

A breakaway Newport Beach church being sued by the Episcopal Diocese

of Los Angeles filed a counter suit this week, alleging breach of

contract in its current property dispute, attorneys disclosed Friday.

Attorneys for St. James Anglican Church filed the cross-complaint

Wednesday in Orange County Superior Court. It claims the diocese put

in writing a promise not to try to seize property from St. James.

The diocese filed a lawsuit last year against St. James, All

Saints’ in Long Beach and St. David’s in North Hollywood, claiming

rights to their property. The three churches last year broke away

from the diocese to align themselves with more conservative Anglican

views.

All parties were ordered back to court in April after unsuccessful

attempts at mediation.

“St. James had hoped the lawsuit would be over by now,” St. James

attorney Eric Sohlgren, said.

Attorneys for the diocese could not be reached Friday.

The countersuit hinges on a letter Sohlgren said the diocese sent

to St. James in 1991.

Then, the church undertook a large-scale fundraising campaign to

buy more property and add new buildings, he said. But before doing

so, they sought assurance from the diocese that it would not stake a

claim to the property as part of a trust agreement, he said.

“[St. James] wanted to make sure the diocese of Los Angeles would

not use it to take St. James’ property,” Sohlgren said. “They asked

for written assurance that they would not. [The diocese] did issue

such a letter.”

St. James seceded from the diocese last year because church

leaders disagreed with the Episcopal Church’s more liberal views. It

placed itself under the Diocese of Luwero in the Anglican Church of

Uganda, Africa, and removed the word “Episcopal” from its name.

The other two churches named in the suit soon followed.

The diocese filed suit against the three churches in December,

claiming rights to their property. The three suits were combined into

one Orange County case earlier this year.

In its countersuit, St. James is seeking to at least recover legal

fees it has incurred as a result of the diocese’s suit against it,

Sohlgren said.

The first motions in the lawsuit will likely be heard sometime

this summer, he said.