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."

http://www.dailypilot.com/religion/story/24626p-35178c.html

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