Lengthy dispute between Episcopal Church and congregations lands back in Fairfax courtroom

From The Washington Post-

A years-long fight between the Episcopal Church and several conservative congregations is back in a Fairfax County courtroom.

Several prominent congregations with roots back to Colonial times, including Truro Church in Fairfax and The Falls Church, voted in 2006 to split from the Episcopal Church and align with a group of conservative Anglican churches. The congregations disagreed with what their members felt was liberal Episcopal doctrine on homosexuality and other issues.

In 2008, Judge Randy Bellows ruled the breakaway congregations were entitled to the church property under a unique Virginia law dating back to the Civil War. But the Virginia Supreme Court overturned that ruling and sent the case back to Bellows.

The retrial begins Monday and is expected to last six weeks.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/lengthy-dispute-between-episcopal-church-and-congregations-lands-back-in-fairfax-courtroom/2011/04/25/AFjuadfE_story.html