From The North West (Apparently this Ontario is in Oregon)
The Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church filed a lawsuit last week against an Ontario congregation that left the denomination this past summer.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Malheur County Circuit Court, alleges that members of the independent Ontario Community Church Inc. -- formerly Ontario Community United Methodist Church -- took property, funds and documents that the United Methodist Church says were held in trust for its mission and ministry.
Leaders of the Ontario congregation said last week that their attorney, Drew Martin, had advised them not to comment on the dispute. Martin said Thursday that he hadn't seen the lawsuit, and he did not respond to later requests for comment.
Congregations in California and Alabama have left the denomination in recent years, sparking legal battles over the United Methodist Church's trust clause, which holds that local congregations own property in trust for the entire denomination. Greg Nelson, a spokesman for the Oregon-Idaho conference, said the national church does not keep track of how many churches have left the denomination. But, he added, in most legal disputes, the trust clause has been upheld.
Similar issues are at stake in the Episcopal Church of the United States as congregations leave the national denomination. Disagreements over biblical interpretation, same-sex marriage and ordination of gay clergy are reasons congregations often cite for leaving their denominations.
More here-
http://www.oregonlive.com/living/index.ssf/2010/11/oregon-idaho_united_methodist.html
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