Independence is the crux of church trial

Grace Church & St. Stephen's has operated since its inception as a corporation separate from the Episcopal Church, the plaintiff's attorney said in opening remarks Tuesday in the $17 million trial to decide ownership of the gothic-style church building at 601 N. Tejon St.

As such, the property belongs solely to the vestry of Grace Church & St. Stephen's, attorney Gregory Walta said.

Walta then spent nearly an hour giving examples to show that, since its founding in 1874, Grace has been independent of the national church - buying and selling property, establishing other churches and adopting its own bylaws.

Arguments by defense attorneys that the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado in Denver was unaware of Grace's independent status was likened by Walta to a last-gasp "Hail Mary pass."

Ownership of the Tejon Street property has been in dispute since March 2007, when the Grace Church & St. Stephen's vestry led part of its 2,500-membercongregation away from the national body because of theological differences.

The group aligned itself with the conservative Anglican Communion province in Nigeria but continued to worship in the building. The other group, Grace Church & St. Stephen's Episcopal, chose to remain with the diocese and has been worshiping at another downtown church, while maintaining that the Tejon Street property belongs to the diocese.

Attorney Martin Nussbaum, who represents the Episcopal diocese, said in his opening remarks that legal precedent in seven states, including Colorado, favors the national church. In those cases, Nussbaum said, courts ruled that an Episcopal church that leaves the national body loses its property.

But Walta said the Grace Church case is different because, being its own corporation, it has retained control of its property.

Walta called Grace "a frontier church" independent of the diocese and national body.

The case, being argued in 4th Judicial District Court downtown, is expected to last five to six weeks.

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CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0367 or mark.barna@gazette.com.