August 23, 2005
(AgapePress) - A judge has ruled that the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles cannot confiscate the property of an orthodox parish that left the denomination over the ordination of an openly homosexual bishop.
Orange County Judge David Velasquez recently dismissed a lawsuit brought by the diocese against the dissident St. James Church in Newport Beach, saying that the parish's actions were protected by the First Amendment's freedom of speech provision. The ruling allows St. James to retain legal possession of its church buildings, property, and financial records.
The pastor of St. James, Praveen Bunyan, views the court decision as "vindication from a vindictive lawsuit." On a spiritual level, he says the church's members are simply joyous and are praising God for the "deliverance and the victory that He has rendered." Now that the legal issues have been resolved, he says St. James simply wants to "move on with freedom to worship the Lord, claim His name, and fulfill His mission."
The minister notes that this conservative Newport Beach parish is "a place that the people of St. James have invested in sacrificially to build a place to worship and to bring up their children, nurture them in the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the biblical orthodoxy." Still, he adds, "The property is not the main thing. It is about that the name of the Lord be lifted up high. We just stood firm on the property issue because we believe legally we owned it."
Having carried that point in court, St. James' pastor asserts that the victory belongs to the Lord. "The most important thing is that the name of the Lord be lifted up -- and that we would all stand under the authority of His Holy Word," he says.
Two other Anglican parishes -- All Saints' Church in Long Beach and St. David's Church in North Hollywood -- are challenging lawsuits the diocese filed against them in Los Angeles County. Pastor Bunyan expects those suits will have similar outcomes to that in his parish's case.
