From the Colorado Springs Gazette-Grace Church & St. Stephen's has operated since its inception as a corporation separate from the Episcopal Church, the plaintiff's attorney said in opening remarks Tuesday in the $17 million trial to decide ownership of the gothic-style church building at 601 N. Tejon St.
As such, the property belongs solely to the vestry of Grace Church & St. Stephen's, attorney Gregory Walta said.
Walta then spent nearly an hour giving examples to show that, since its founding in 1874, Grace has been independent of the national church - buying and selling property, establishing other churches and adopting its own bylaws.
Arguments by defense attorneys that the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado in Denver was unaware of Grace's independent status was likened by Walta to a last-gasp "Hail Mary pass."
Ownership of the Tejon Street property has been in dispute since March 2007, when the Grace Church & St. Stephen's vestry led part of its 2,500-membercongregation away from the national body because of theological differences.
http://www.gazette.com/articles/_47825___article.html/_.html
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