Church secession saga still unresolved

Deepa Bharath

The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles is refusing to release a local

church that seceded Tuesday over Episcopalians’ liberal theological

views, the bishop who governs the diocese said Wednesday.

St. James Church on Via Lido and All Saints’ in Long Beach

announced their secession from the Episcopal Church on Tuesday saying

they’ll now become part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. St.

James will come under the Diocese of Luwero in the Anglican Province

of Uganda, Pastor Praveen Bunyan said.

The Episcopal Church’s ambiguous views on whether Jesus Christ is

the only Lord and Savior who offers salvation to believers don’t

match those of St. James’ members, church officials said.

Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, bishop of the diocese of Los Angeles, said

he has sent out “a letter of protest” to Bishop Evans Kisekka in

Luwero.

“Those churches are part of the diocese of Los Angeles,” Bruno

said. “I’m their bishop. The clergy in those churches have been

ordained by us and sworn to obedience to the Episcopal Church.”

St. James Church officials in a written statement on Wednesday

said the clergy of St. James are no longer under the Episcopal Church

or the diocese.

“The bishop of Los Angeles no longer has ecclesiastical authority

over them, nor do the constitutions or canons of the Episcopal Church

or the diocese of Los Angeles apply to them,” officials wrote.

They also said that the church and the surrounding property on Via

Lido is and has always been held by St. James, a nonprofit

corporation formed in 1949.

“The diocese has no claim against it,” officials wrote.

The bishop sent out another letter to be read during services at

all Episcopal churches in the diocese. The letter states that “no

bishop outside the diocese has the jurisdiction to oversee ministry

within that geographical diocese.”

“The fact that the bishop is from another autonomous church within

the Anglican Communion flies in the face of our ethos as Anglicans

and of the Catholic unity of the church,” the bishop wrote.

Although St. James claims that it owns the church and the ground

it stands on, the Episcopal Church’s canonical law states that “all

consecrated buildings of each of our congregations rightfully belong

to the Episcopal Church in this diocese,” Bruno wrote.

The church in Long Beach said its members were in disagreement

with the Episcopal Church’s liberal attitude, especially relating to

homosexuality. But St. James administrators said that was not their

issue at all.

Eric Evans, a Costa Mesa resident who has been a member at St.

James for 14 years, said his church welcomes homosexuals.

“We have active ministries in church that work with people who are

gay,” he said. “We even have an HIV ministry that helps people who

have been infected or their families. We’ve never shied away from

this issue.”

The issue of homosexuality is a “by-product” in this saga of

secession, Evans said.

“It’s like if you have a heart attack and a numb leg as a result

of it, you don’t treat the numb leg,” he said. “You treat the heart.

The gay issue is only symptomatic of a deeper, more serious problem.”

The problem Bunyan and other church members had involved the

Episcopal Church’s view that those of other faiths are also loved by

God, he said.

“Then why are we even a church?” Bunyan asked.

The Episcopal Church is losing sight of the Scriptures in trying

to fit into a new and evolving culture, he said.

“Bishops have lowered the bar, and the church has been consumed by

fitting in rather than obeying the word of God,” Bunyan said.

Bruno reacted to the pastor’s statements by saying that although

he believes in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, he will not

submit to a simplistic ideology.

“I’m not willing to say that all other people, whether they are

Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims or Jews, will be rejected by God,” he

said. “Christianity is an optimum way of life.”

* DEEPA BHARATH is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.

She may be reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at

deepa.bharath@latimes.com.