Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer, Associated Press via Fox19
The Episcopal Diocese of Ohio is suing to regain control of several churches that broke away in protest over the election of a gay bishop and other doctrinal issues that have divided the denomination.

Dissatisfied members of the five parishes named in the suit can leave the diocese, but they cannot hold on to the land buildings, the church said in the lawsuit filed in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.

The diocese wants the court to rule that the church holds the rights to the property.

The parishes associated themselves an anti-gay cleric, "Missionary Bishop" Martyn Minns of the Virginia-based Convocation of Anglicans.  Minns told Associated Press that the parishes named in the lawsuit are disappointed the diocese chose to go to court rather than negotiate a settlement.

Minns told the Plain Dealer that the lawsuit is part of "a national effort on the part of the Episcopal Church to basically crush any dissenting voice."

Diocese spokeswoman Martha Wright says the lawsuit is a first step to clarify who has rights to certain properties.

She said the diocese remains committed to resolving the dispute in a "mutually respectful manner."

Parishes named in the suit are: St. Barnabas Anglican Church in Bay Village, the Anglican Church of the Transfiguration in Cleveland, Church of the Holy Spirit in Akron, St. Luke's Anglican Church in Fairlawn and St. Anne in the Fields in Madison

Full article: Episcopal Diocese of Ohio sues to get land, buildings in breakaway parishes | Cleveland Plain Dealer
Lawsuit over property rights in Episcopal Diocese of Ohio | Fox19 (AP)