Wednesday, November 5, 2008

FALLBROOK: Church battle leaves congregation in limbo


More on the effects of the California ruling that congregations may not leave the Episcopal Church with their property.

A small Fallbrook church is waiting to see what will come of a court battle with the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego after an unfavorable appeal court ruling, in a property rights dispute that will determine who gets to use the church building.

Several of the 100 to 125 people who attend what is now St. John's Anglican Church said last week that they intend to meet every Sunday at their Iowa Street sanctuary, as they always have, until someone says otherwise.

"We would be kind of foolish to not do some 'What if'-type of things," said Rick Crossley, who has attended the church for 10 years and served as a spokesman since the congregation voted to leave the Episcopal church in 2006. "We're not going out looking at leases, though."

While the lawsuit is an attempt to sort out who has the authority to run the church's board of directors, the underlying issue is property ownership.

http://www.northcountytimes.com/articles/2008/11/03/news/inland/fallbrook/z734c3354f1bfde0b882574ec0069cfd8.txt

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