St. James files petition with court

A Newport Beach Anglican church on Tuesday filed a petition with the California Supreme Court in the latest round of a bitter, years-long property dispute with the Episcopal Church.

St. James Church is asking the state Supreme Court to review its right to have a trial in Orange County Superior Court after losing its case in March in the California Court of Appeal.

“St. James has followed a steady course since this lawsuit was first filed against them and its church volunteers,” Eric Sohlgren, an attorney for St. James, said in a written statement. “The reason is that the principles at stake go to the very heart of what Americans hold dear — the right to own property without outside interference and the right to freely exercise one’s religion regardless of belief or faith group.”

St. James became one of three conservative Southern California parishes that placed itself under the jurisdiction of a Ugandan bishop after the Episcopal Church consecrated a gay bishop in 2003. Other Episcopal bishops began sanctioning gay marriages about the same time.

The break led to a highly publicized property dispute over whether the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles or the St. James’ congregation owned the white stucco church on Via Lido, which stands across the street from Newport Harbor on the Balboa Peninsula.

— Brianna Bailey