"We are delighted that this is the final ruling and that the courts found in our favor," Rick Crossley, senior warden of the parish told VOL. "This fits with what happened in the Diocese of Los Angeles where three parishes who fought and won their properties from Bishop J Jon Bruno."

"The difference here in San Diego is that the dispute was about who were the duly elected directors, in church law who were the vestry. They sued us under California corporate law and they were basically asserting that the vestry of St. John's had vacated their seats. They had not and the courts in San Diego agreed with our position. The bishop has given no indication what he will do."

"We are pleased that the courts agreed with us, but we are not celebrating because we know the national church through its attorney David Booth Beers has said publicly in Washington last week that they intend to pursue church property issues where the courts have seen in favor of the local parish.

But Eric E. Sohlgren, the attorney for St. John's, told VOL that the victory was significant and binding. "The Dennis Canon has become more holy to The Episcopal Church than the Holy Scriptures. The fundamental problem that the TEC has is that by relying on the Dennis Canon they ignore the laws of various states which respect corporate rights and the ability of property owners to retain their property when they exercise their religious freedom to change their ecclesiastical affiliation."

"In terms of episcopal polity the TEC decided many years ago to have local churches incorporate on their own property and bear all the burdens of property ownership. Having forced the burdens of property ownership upon local churches, the TEC should do the right thing and respect local property ownership."

"The Episcopal Church seems to think that the litigation they have fielded against local churches and their leaders is insignificant. It is not insignificant for a church volunteer who is trying to follow Christ to be sued in court or to have a process server show up at his or her doorstep or follow them around trying to serve a lawsuit. This kind of oppressive behavior is not consistent with the dictates of Mt. 18 and bishops within the TEC should think long and hard before suing their former flock," he said.

"A few former members of St. John's and the Diocese of San Diego seemed to think that they could unilaterally evaporate California corporate law and the overwhelming vote of St. John's members to change their religious affiliation by simply declaring themselves in charge.

"Thankfully, the Court saw through this ruse which was aimed at confiscating church property the Diocese never paid for or maintained."

The diocese had filed suit against Fr. Donald Kroeger, nine church volunteers, and St. John's Church, Fallbrook, in an attempt to wrest away control of the corporation and its property, on the theory that Bishop Mathes had determined they were disloyal Episcopalians.

In July, an overwhelming majority of members of St. John's voted to end their spiritual affiliation with the Episcopal Church due to its forty year drift away from orthodox Christian belief, and to align with the Anglican Church of Uganda. Their new bishop is Bishop Evans Kiseka of Luwero in the Anglican Church of Uganda.

At a hearing conducted before the Court on November 8, 2006, the Court had indicated tentatively that it was siding with St. John's Church. Subsequently, the Court issued a final ruling confirming its tentative decision.

St. John's is among hundreds of churches and thousands of individuals that have left the Episcopal Church in the past few years over issues of church doctrine.

"It is a great relief to the loyal members of our church to see this dispute end and to know that the sanctuary and grounds where we gather every Sunday will remain a safe harbor for us," said Fr. Donald Kroeger, rector of St. John's Anglican Church. "We will go forth and turn all our attention on the mission that God has given us: to be faithful to Him, to accept His Only Son as our Savior and to spread his Holy Word. The church will continue its ministry as it has since it was founded."

Sohlgren, who is a member of St. James Newport Beach formerly in the diocese of Los Angeles, but is now in the Diocese of Luweero, Uganda, told VOL that the St. Johns Fallbrook case was different form the other three California cases in that the diocese tried to usurp control of the board by having a small group elect themselves a so-called vestry and then having the bishop of San Diego declaring them to be the real board of St. John's. The court rejected the idea that this remnant was the true church because there was no dispute among the two groups about whether they were episcopal or not. The leaders of St. John's had disaffiliated before Bishop Mathes implemented this strategy, therefore the court ruled that the board members of St John's had not vacated their seats and that the small remnant group had not held a valid election.

"The bishop said in the legal papers filed by the Diocese of San Diego that the diocese and the people of St. John's were "SUBSERVIENT" to Bishop Mathes. The bishop is not a king and the people of St. Johns are not his personal servants. Thankfully we have a court system that enforces corporate law rather than these kinds of self-serving declarations."

END