In a case which will be closely watched by bishops and dioceses throughout the Episcopal Church, the rector and senior warden of a Pittsburgh congregation have sued their diocesan leadership.

The complaint asks the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas to compel the bishop, assistant bishop, and elected trustees to uphold canons regarding diocesan property. It was filed not against the diocese, but rather against the leadership on behalf of the members of the diocese.

“This is not, No. 1, an ad hominem attack on the bishop or anyone else,” the Rev. Harold Lewis, rector of Calvary Church, told The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “And this has nothing to do with Gene Robinson; this is not about homosexuality.”

Fr. Lewis and many members of his parish are part of a coalition of alienated clergy and laity in the Diocese of Pittsburgh who strongly objected to a series of resolutions successfully placed before an extraordinary convention in Pittsburgh in September. The final resolution passed called for a policy of releasing diocesan control of property to any congregation which sought to disassociate from the diocese in the future. A national church canon holds that property and buildings are held in trust by congregations on behalf of the diocese.

The outcome of this case is much less certain than a property dispute between a parish and a diocese and could have significant implications for other dioceses seeking to disassociate from recent General Convention actions to condone same-sex blessings and consent to the consecration of a non-celibate homosexual person as Bishop Coadjutor of New Hampshire.

The Rt. Rev. Robert W. Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburgh, told the Post Gazette he regretted the lawsuit, calling it premature. “What we have done is try to protect all the churches’ property,” he said.