The Episcopal Diocese of San Diego, however, said that while the deeds indeed show ownership by the congregations, the property is held in trust by the diocese.

"It's what prevents you from going out and saying, 'Let's go sell our church,'" said the Rev. Howard Smith, canon for administration, finance and communication at the diocese.

The Rev. Anthony Baron of St. Anne's in Oceanside, one of the churches that has split from the Episcopal Church, said he was confident that his congregation's claim to the building's ownership will hold up to a challenge.

"The diocese is incorrect," Baron said.

"I don't know what the Diocese of San Diego is going to do," Baron continued. "All I know is that the property belongs to the people of St. Anne's Anglican Church. The deed says it belongs to St. Anne's, to the rector, the wardens and the vestry of St. Anne's parish."

Smith said he does not know what action, if any, the San Diego Diocese will take against the churches.

A schism in the Episcopal Church U.S.A. has resulted in some priests and congregations breaking away from the American branch of the Anglican church and aligning with more traditional branches, called arms, overseas. The Episcopal Church is one of 37 autonomous arms of the global Anglican Communion.

St. Anne's has aligned with a diocese in Bolivia, and St. John's has aligned with a diocese in Uganda.

Four Episcopal congregations in the county have fractured because of the theological schism, but only St. Anne's and St. John's are claiming ownership of their churches.

At All Saints Church in Vista and Christ the King Church in Alpine, priests also resigned from the Episcopal Church, taking much of their congregation with them to start new churches.

The Rev. Joe Rees resigned from All Saints last Sunday. Rees said at the time that he did not want a legal fight with the diocese over the property. The diocese has appointed Canon Richard Lief, the retired rector of St. David's Episcopal Church in Clairemont and the canon for the arts at St. Paul's Cathedral in San Diego, as interim rector in Vista. A regular service at All Saints is scheduled for 7:45 a.m. Sunday, followed by a 10:15 a.m. service to be attended by Episcopalians who did not split from All Saints, St. John's and St. Anne's.

The Rev. Canon Wayne Sanders, retired from Good Samaritan Episcopal Church in University City, has been appointed as interim rector of St. John's Episcopal Church in Fallbrook. Because the Fallbrook sanctuary is being used by the Rev. Donald Kroeger and his congregation at what now is called St. John's Anglican Church, Sanders and his Episcopal congregation will meet in another location in Fallbrook.

The Rev. Canon Jenny Vervynck of the diocese's office said a new meeting place may be announced in time for services Aug. 13.

Attorney Eric Sohlgren of the law firm Payne & Fears in Irvine advised St. Anne's and St. John's before the churches broke from the Episcopal Church. He said both have a right to stay on their property.

Sohlgren said three Southern California churches ---- St. James in Newport Beach, St. David's in Hollywood and All Saints in Long Beach ---- won lawsuits to prevent the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles from confiscating their property after they broke with the Episcopal Church.

"All won their cases," said Sohlgren, who represented St. James in a case settled in August 2005. "The courts ruled that they all own their property. It's an identical argument that San Diego would have to make."

In his decision regarding the St. James case, Judge David Velasquez ruled that California courts do not have to follow church rules, known as canons, in disputes regarding property, Solhlgren said.

"In California, there's a legal presumption that whoever has their name on the deed of the property is the owner of the property," he said.

Besides having their names on the deeds, Solhlgren said the congregations had completely funded the purchase and maintenance of their property.

"For another corporation to come along and say, 'We own your property because we passed a rule,' the courts in California have not gone along with it," he said.

Solhlgren said the lead church-property case in the state dates to the early 1980s and involved four churches that left the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles over a disagreement about whether women should be ordained. Three of those congregations were allowed to keep their property, he said.

More recently , conservative congregations broke with the Episcopal Church after an openly gay bishop was ordained in 2003. This year the church elected its first female bishop as national presiding bishop, causing the schism to widen.

Contact staff writer Gary Warth at gwarth@nctimes.com.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/08/04/faith/17_57_208_3_06.txt

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