SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – The state’s high court ruled Jan. 5 that three Southern California parishes that left the U.S. Episcopal Church over its ordination of gay ministers cannot retain ownership of their church buildings and property.

In a unanimous decision, the California Supreme Court ruled that the property belongs to the Episcopal Church because the parishes agreed to abide by the mother church’s rules, which include specific language about property ownership.

St. James Church in Newport Beach, All Saints Church in Long Beach and St. David’s Church in North Hollywood pulled out of the 2.1 million-member national Episcopal Church in 2004 and sought to retain property ownership.

Each church held deeds in their names to the property, but the court ruled that Episcopal Church canons made it clear that the property belonged to the individual parishes only as long as they remained part of the bigger church.

“When it disaffiliated from the general church, the local church did not have the right to take the church property with it,” Supreme Court Justice Ming Chin wrote for the seven-member court.

Since 2003, four dioceses and about 100 individual churches have split and set off bitter religious and legal feuds over church doctrine and division of property.

An attorney for the U.S. Episcopal Church said that the California Supreme Court ruling will be influential in other similar property disputes across the country.

“This was a thorough and conclusive ruling,” said Episcopal Church lawyer John Shiner.

This Los Angeles case sets a precedent which will affect similar property disputes in the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego, specifically the property lawsuits regarding St. John’s in Fallbrook, St. Anne’s in Oceanside and Holy Trinity in Ocean Beach.

Former members of those three churches purported to leave the Episcopal Church in 2006 and have continued to worship and use parish property. The Diocese of San Diego has worked tirelessly to address the question of who are the rightful owners of those church properties.

The ruling, last week, by the California Supreme Court follows recent appellate opinions.

The Right Reverend James R. Mathes of the Diocese of San Diego said it confirms his conviction that parish property cannot be taken away from the larger church by departing members.

“The California Supreme Court has followed all other major decisions regarding property in a hierarchical church,” Bishop Mathes said. “With this ruling, I am confident that we will soon be able to rebuild our three congregations in the Diocese of San Diego. I know this comes as a hard decision for those who have been inhabiting our church buildings. There is room in this Church for all who desire to be members of it. We stand ready to welcome the return of any who wish to rejoin this part of the Body of Christ.”

Bishop John Bruno, head of the 85,000-person Los Angeles Diocese, said he was “overjoyed” with the ruling and hoped it would prompt reconciliation talks with the three churches.

A lawyer for the breakaway parishes didn’t immediately return a telephone call.

The ruling’s most immediate impact will be in Fresno, where national church leaders in April sued John-David Schofield, deposed bishop of the Fresno diocese who led the breakaway effort of about 40 churches in the state’s Central Valley. The lawsuit demands the return of church property to the national church.

Similar legal battles are expected in Pittsburgh, Fort Worth, Texas and Quincy, Ill., where dioceses in those areas recently voted to split from the national church.

On Dec. 19, 2008, a Virginia judge citing a Civil War-era state law there ruled in favor of 11 congregations in their split from the main church.

The break was led by former Episcopal Bishop Robert Duncan, a theological conservative who had long been angered by the liberal direction of the national church. He said he had to split from denominational leaders after Episcopalians in 2003 consecrated the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.

The assets at stake include diocesan endowments and bank accounts, along with insurance, mailing lists and databases.

The Episcopal Church, with about 2.1 million members in the U.S., is the American body of the Anglican Communion, with about 77 million members worldwide.

Gay & Lesbian Times Associate Editor Randy Hope contributed to this story