ATTLEBORO - A legal battle between the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts and breakaway parish All Saints Anglican Church has been settled out of court.

Details of the agreement, which was announced Monday, were not released in full, but both sides indicated they were pleased with the outcome of the lawsuit filed by the diocese about six weeks ago to recover money and property it claimed was wrongfully taken by the dissident church.

The suit alleged as much as $200,000 was improperly kept or used by All Saints Anglican when it left the diocese and the local parish known as All Saints Episcopal Church over issues concerning gay clergy and gay unions.

Members of All Saints Anglican hold a more conservative theological view on those issues than members of the mother church.

Rev. Gregory Jacobs, a diocesan staff officer for urban ministry development, said the outcome of the court action will permit the remnant of the All Saints Episcopal to survive and move forward. "The settlement will assist All Saints' Episcopal Church to continue its momentum for growth and renewal," he said in a statement e-mailed to The Sun Chronicle on Monday.

Jacobs said the terms of the settlement "are not available," but that they "call for the return of church funds and property."

Meanwhile, Rev. Lance Giuffrida, pastor of All Saint's Anglican which voted to separate from the diocese almost a year ago and was ordered out of the North Main Street church in January, said he was pleased with the outcome.

"We're very excited and we're very relieved to have all of this behind us," he said Monday night. "We can now look forward to our future."

Giuffrida said that future includes the former Hebron United Methodist Church. All Saints Anglican completed the purchase of the South Main Street building on July 31, he said.

He declined to release the purchase price, but said the parish aims to move in "as soon as possible."

Giuffrida said he and city building inspector Doug Semple are in talks about what needs to be done before an occupancy permit can be issued.

Like Jacobs, Giuffrida declined to go into detail about the settlement, but said a statement would be forthcoming from the Anglican Mission in America, the ruling body for the breakaway parish.

The settlement was made "with prejudice" meaning that none of the issues raised in the legal case can be revisited, he said.

Giuffrida said the settlement includes the repayment of a $10,000 loan made by the diocese to him for his house and the return of about a dozen memorialized prayer books to All Saints Episcopal. GEORGE W. RHODES can be reached at 508-236-0432 or at grhodes@thesunchronicle.com.