A CHURCH has taken out a restraining order against a former member following a bitter dispute involving claims he threatened fellow worshippers.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has won an interim interdict at the Court of Session in Edinburgh against James Lynn-Wilson, 41, of Denny, Stirlingshire, amid the claims of threatening behaviour in a row that has smouldered in a small corner of the Scots Mormon community for years.

Mr Lynn-Wilson has been banned from engaging in offensive behaviour against church members on church premises or elsewhere in the action, which he said he intends to challenge.

In a court notice, the church and second and third pursuers Colette Catherine Bain Freed and Allan Freed, who declined to comment, are named in the citation of the interim interdict, which gives Mr Lynn-Wilson three weeks to respond.

The Utah-headquartered church that has its European base in England declined to give details of the nature of the offensive behaviour.

However, it is understood the encounters were claimed by the pursuers to have been distressing. On one occasion police had to be called when Mr Lynn-Wilson appeared at the door of one of the pursuers.

Mr Lynn-Wilson previously worshipped at the Mormon Church in Alloa, Clackmannanshire, and said he was ex-communicated for "conduct unbecoming".

He said the dispute began with his ex-communication in 2004 on matters related to his marriage break-up and encounters with other churchgoers, and more recently he claims to have been involved in concerns raised about family members who are still Mormon Church members.

He said that on the occasion he went to the pursuer's home nothing untoward happened. "The police were called but the case was discontinued after six months," he said.

There were claims of at least one separate encounter on church premises.

Mr Lynn-Wilson said: "They said I threatened a couple of their members. It was me who was threatened."

He claimed he has raised concerns over his family members' treatment by the church. "I was a member of the church for 20 years before I was ex-communicated, so I know the doctrine.

"I have contacted the court. I want to go back to court with it. Absolutely. I am going to do everything within the confines of the law (to challenge the case)."

The court papers state that "if James Lynn-Wilson wishes to challenge the jurisdiction of the court or to defend the action he should contact the deputy principal clerk of session, Court of Session".

A spokesman for the church said: "An interim interdict was granted by the Edinburgh Court of Session against James Lynn-Wilson restraining him from any form of offensive activity directed towards employees or members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on or of property owned by the church.

"Unfortunately, the prior behaviour of Mr Lynn-Wilson compelled the church to take such actions."

There are currently about 200,000 baptised Mormons in the UK.

The Mormon faith has an ancestral connection to Scotland, with one church writer speaking of its "seeds in Scotland". The movement was started by settlers in America in the early 19th century, many of whom had Scottish roots.

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney and the singing Osmond family are among the most famous US Mormons.