An Orange County Superior Court judge ruled Thursday that the
Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles must pay more than $81,000 in legal
fees to St. James Church, the Newport Beach congregation that split
from the diocese over a dispute about church doctrine.
The same judge, David Velasquez, ruled Aug. 15 to dismiss a
lawsuit against St. James Church's congregation that claimed the
Newport Beach breakaway church's property and assets belong to the
Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles.
Velasquez ruled that efforts by the national church to retain the
property of the seceding St. James congregation was an attempt to
tread upon the congregation's freedom of speech.
Praveen Bunyan, pastor of St. James, said the awarding of legal
fees is another affirmation that the St. James Church was right from
the beginning.
"This is a reiteration saying that the lawsuit was wrongfully
brought against us," Bunyan said.
Representatives from the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles did not
return phone calls Friday.
Financially, Judge Velasquez's ruling Thursday means that the
church can apply funds toward "God's mission," Bunyan said.
"We're glad that we can continue to concentrate on the mission
that we believe as a church we are called to do," Bunyan said.
The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles filed suit against St. James
in September 2004 after the Newport Beach church and two other
Southern California congregations broke away from the diocese and the
Episcopal Church of the United States in protest of the national
church's positions.
After leaving the national church, St. James affiliated with the
Diocese of Luwero in the Anglican province of Uganda, Africa. The Los
Angeles diocese's lawsuit alleged St. James' property belongs to the
national church, not to the congregation.
Although St. James Church is pleased with the awarding of legal
fees, the church remains skeptical that the diocese will pay the
legal fees without first appealing the decision, said St. James
attorney Eric Sohlgren, in a statement released Thursday.
"I don't know whether they will appeal," Bunyan said. "Of course,
we'll continue to fight for what is ours."
