The Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut is suing in an attempt to regain possession of a local church that broke ranks with the diocese over the appointment of an openly gay bishop.
The congregation of Trinity Episcopal Church in Bristol voted in May to join the more conservative Anglican Church of Nigeria.
The diocese’s lawsuit, filed this month in New Britain Superior Court, argues that Trinity’s rector, the Rev. Donald Helmandollar, and other church leaders gave up their legal rights to control the parish, its records and furnishings.
“..parish, records and furnishings..” Goodness gracious don’t forget the properties and the money.
You can’t “regain possession” of what you did not possess.