Portland, USA - Regional leaders of the United Methodist Church have sued an Eastern Oregon congregation that split from the denomination.
The Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, which oversees Methodist congregations in the region, claims in its lawsuit that members of the Ontario Community Church took property, funds and documents held in trust for the Methodist mission and ministry.
Leaders of the breakaway church, formerly the Ontario Community United Methodist Church, said their attorney advised them not to comment on the complaint, which was filed this month in Malheur County Circuit Court.
Congregations in California and Alabama have left the Methodist denomination in recent years, sparking legal battles over the United Methodist Church's trust clause, which holds that local congregations own property in trust for the entire denomination.
Greg Tollefson of Boise, chairman of the conference board of trustees, said in a statement, that the denomination has a duty to protect its property.
Greg Nelson, a spokesman for the Oregon-Idaho conference, said the national church does not keep track of how many churches have left the denomination. But, he added, in most legal disputes, the trust clause has been upheld.
The Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America have also seen individual congregations leave after the national denominations moved toward allowing ordination for ministers in same-sex relationships.