From The Wall Street Journal-Episcopalians along the South Carolina coast are battling in court to determine which of two factions owns an estimated $500 million in church buildings, grounds and cemeteries, following an acrimonious split last year over social issues.
The leadership and about two-thirds of the members of the Diocese of South Carolina, based in Charleston, broke away from the national Episcopal Church last November over its blessing of same-sex unions, ordination of gay clergy and its liberal approach to other social and theological issues. The breakaway faction then filed a state lawsuit to assert ownership of 35 parishes, including many of the church's wealthiest in the state. The group says it shouldn't have to turn property over to a church that it believes has drifted from Biblical principles.
"The essential issue here is freedom of religion," said the Rev. James B. Lewis, a top assistant to the Rt. Rev. Mark Lawrence, the breakaway group's bishop. "We have the freedom to remove ourselves."
More here-
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324010704578418983895885100.html
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