Florida Episcopal Diocese Prevails Against Breakaway Church

In Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Florida, Inc. v. Lebhar, (FL 4th Cir., April 27, 2007), a Florida state circuit court upheld the claim of the Episcopal Diocese of Florida to the Jacksonville property on which the break away Church of the Redeemer is located. The court held that in an hierarchical church, a civil court is required to respect the determination by the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese that the defendants-- the Rector, Wardens and Vestry of the church-- had abandoned the Episcopal Church when they announced that the Church would affiliate with the Anglican Church of Uganda. Yesterday's Episcopal News Service reported on the decision. The court, however, refused to grant summary judgment on the Diocese's request for attorneys' fees, deciding that questions of fact remained to be determined. The court said that this aspect of the case poses the interesting question of whether awarding attorneys' fees in a dispute within an hierarchical church would impermissibly entangle the court in the internal decisions of the church.