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CALIFORNIA: St. Luke's of the Mountains Anglican Church Wins Reprieve from Superior Court
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
8/23/2007
La Crescenta, CA: -- A parish, formerly in the Diocese of Los Angeles and now with the Province of Uganda, has successfully won its right to remain in their church buildings for the duration of their appeal to the Los Angeles Appellate Court for permanent title to the property.
In a ruling on August 22, 2007 the Superior Court of Los Angeles said that St. Luke's of the Mountains Anglican Church and its priest could remain on the property pending the outcome of their appeal. "We see this as a small victory," Debbie Kollgard, senior warden of St. Luke's told VOL. "The diocese is fighting hard to retain the property."
"We have the title and deed. The church started in 1924 long before the Dennis Canon. The church started out independently but later decided to link up with the Diocese of Los Angeles," said Kollgaard.
The church property and buildings it has purchased have been in the parish's hands and maintained for over 60 years.
The Superior Court had previously granted summary judgment in favor of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and The Episcopal Church on their claim to take over the property of St. Luke's based on an internal Episcopal rule, following a recent decision of the California Court of Appeal for the Fourth Appellate District.
On August 15, 2007, St. Luke's Church appealed the Court's judgment against it. The Honorable John S. Wiley of the Los Angeles Superior Court granted a stay of the judgment pending appeal, which allows the St. Luke's congregation to remain in the La Crescenta church until a final appellate ruling is made.
The Court also rejected a demand by the Episcopal Church that the local congregation deposit over $7 million - based on a commercial valuation - in exchange for permission to remain on the property.
By doing so, the Court upheld St. Luke's arguments that the property was an historic church in continuous operation for many decades.
Furthermore, the Court rejected the demand of the Episcopal Diocesan bishop, the Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, that no other Christian bishops be permitted on the property without his prior permission. This demand was seen as irrelevant to protecting the property from damage, pending appeal. The Court ruled that it would instead have served solely to deprive St. Luke's Church of visits from its spiritual leaders based on their church affiliation.
St. Luke's Church will be required to protect and preserve the property, pending appeal, and post a small bond, which will be returned to the congregation if it ultimately prevails.
St. Luke's has been a separate, California nonprofit religious corporation since 1940. It will continue to hold worship services in La Crescenta. It was formerly affiliated with the Episcopal Church until it aligned with the Anglican Church of Uganda in February 2006. "The diocese is behaving like bullies," said a source to VOL. "For the diocese it is not about the faith it is about property and that is truly sad."
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