The California Supreme Court on May 5 returned to a lower court the lawsuit involving a seven-year property dispute between the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and a breakaway Newport Beach church.
The court, in a 6-1 decision, said that St. James Anglican Church, which disaffiliated from the Episcopal Church in 2003, can present arguments to show that the church and the property are owned by the congregation and not by the Los Angeles diocese and Episcopal Church.