California Court Says Bishop's Letter Did Not Waive Dennis Canon For Break-Away Parish

In Rasmussen v. Bunyan, (CA Super. Ct., May 1, 2013), a California trial court gave another win to The Episcopal Church in the long-running controversy over ownership of property of the break-away St. James Parish in Newport Beach, California. (See prior posting.)  In this opinion, the court held that a 1991 letter from the Bishop of Los Angeles specifically giving the Parish permission to purchase a piece of property in its own name "and not held in trust for the Diocese of Los Angeles, or the Corporation Sole" was ineffective to amend Canon 1.7.4 of The Episcopal Church (the Dennis Canon) that provides that parish property is held in trust for the Church and the Diocese.  In response to the break-away church's claim of estoppel based on the promises made by the Bishop, the court said:

The representations [in the 1991 letter] were made to St. James Parish and they were true so long as St James Parish remained a subordinate unit of the Diocese and Episcopal Church. They were not made to "St. James Church," the Local Church involved in this action.... Having disavowed affiliation with the Episcopal Church and the Diocese, the Local Church does not stand in the shoes of St. James Parish.

The Anglican Curmudgeon blog has extensive commentary on the decision. [Thanks to Allan Haley for the lead.]