Lula said the parties were ordered to agree on a mediator in a week. Courts have lists of private mediators, which often are lawyers but do not have to be, or the parties could submit to mediation by Velasquez himself, Lula said.

St. James and All Saints cut ties to the national Episcopal Church in August and placed themselves under the jurisdiction of a conservative Anglican bishop in Uganda. St. David's in North Hollywood, followed suit.

The parishes say they have divergent views on biblical interpretation and homosexuality.

The diocese filed its suit against the churches on Sept. 7, seeking return of church property, including prayer books and hymnals.

The cases have been joined together in Orange County.

Lula said the parties were given a court return date of April 29 at which time the mediation process must be completed.

California law sides with churches that hold property in their names, have paid for the property with their own funds and have not held it in trust with another entity, such as the diocese, Lula said.

"It stays with them even when they disaffiliate," Lula said. "That's the governing authority in this area."

Lula said the church lawyers will look for someone well-versed in property law and who has the time and attention to devote to the case.

The mediation is non-binding and does not have to be accepted by either party. He said it was too early to speculate if there are issues both sides can agree upon.

"It will be interesting to see what develops," he said.

Lawyers for the diocese say that Diocesan canons require that any application for permission to organize a parish of the Episcopal Church must contain a promise and declaration that the parish shall be forever held under, and that its members shall conform to and be bound by, the Ecclesiastical Authority of the Diocese and other regulations.

St. James began as an Episcopal mission in 1946, headed by a vicar appointed by the bishop, Diocese attorney John Shiner said in court document.

In its early days, St. James received substantial help from Messiah Episcopal church in Santa Ana, which was founded in 1883, and that Messiah paid the salaries of St. James founding clergy, and that the Diocese loaned money to help St. James build its first building.

"St. James from its very beginning, was nurtured by the Diocese and the larger family of Episcopal churches in Southern California," Shiner said.

St. James sought permission from the Diocese on Jan. 20, 1947 to proceed with organization of a parish, according to the court papers.

The church lawyers responded that since March 1, 1947, St. James has been an independent California religious corporation. The church held title to its property since May 29, 1951, in its own name and that records show the land on which the sanctuary sits at 3209 Via Lido was conveyed to the church, without any reservation of rights.

The original donor of the property, Griffith Co., relinquished interest directly to St. James, according to court documents.

Lula said current case law favoring the churches arises out of a lawsuit involving the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles when four other Episcopal church disaffiliated in the late 1970s over the issue of the ordination of women as priests.

"And it's certainly been settled law in California for at least 20 years that churches which are independent and do hold their property in their own name are free to depart denominations with those assets," Lula said.

After the lawsuits were filed, the Rt. Rev. J. John Bruno, bishop of the Los Angeles Diocese, issued a statement saying he had no choice but to sue to preserve the churches as houses of worship for faithful Episcopalians, as they had been used since being founded.

END