Church drops ‘Episcopal’ from its name

Deepa Bharath

A local church has disassociated itself from the Episcopal Diocese of

Los Angeles, stating that the bigger church’s liberal philosophy

doesn’t match its own orthodox view of the Bible.

As of Tuesday, St. James Episcopal Church on Via Lido removed

“Episcopal” from its name and will become part of the worldwide

Anglican Communion, said Father Praveen Bunyan, pastor of St. James.

All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Long Beach joined St. James in the

secession, diocese officials said.

Church administrators and members overwhelmingly voted Monday to

sever their association with the Episcopal Church, Bunyan said.

“The Episcopalian Church has moved away from the message that is

at the core of our faith,” he said.

The church is ambiguous on whether Jesus Christ is the only Lord

and Savior who offers salvation, Bunyan said.

“If we don’t believe in uniqueness and centrality of Jesus Christ,

are we even a church?” he asked.

The diocese is disappointed by the churches’ decision, Bishop J.

Jon Bruno said in a written statement.

“I’ve made ongoing and long-standing attempts to be their bishop

and pastor and friend,” he said. “I have had no warning of this

taking place.”

Bruno recently offered St. James and three other churches the

option of receiving guidance from a bishop whom they agree with

theologically and philosophically, but the churches declined that

offer, he said.

St. James is not the first church to ask to secede from the

Episcopal Church, said Janet Kawamoto, media director for the

diocese.

In 1976, four churches tried to separate because they did not

agree with women being ordained as ministers, she said.

“But we’ve never had any such attempts recently,” Kawamoto said.

St. James has no issues with female ministers or homosexuality,

Bunyan said.

“My wife herself is a minister,” he said. “And we don’t

discriminate against anyone. Our issue is that we should follow the

historic teaching of the faith and God’s word.”

The 1,200-strong church will now come under the Diocese of Luweero

in the Anglican Province of Uganda, Africa. The Rt. Rev. Evans

Kisekka will be the church’s bishop. In addition, a bishop in Texas

will serve as the “on-site bishop” to offer pastoral guidance to the

church, Bunyan said.

Although Bruno’s statement said he needs to fully consider the

church’s action and its validity, the secession is final, said Jim

Dale, senior warden or chair of the church’s governing board.

“We consider it a done deal,” he said.

The church will remain in its current location, where it owns the

land and the building, Dale said.

Other Newport-Mesa Episcopalian churches had mixed reactions to

St. James’ dramatic move.

Peter Haynes, pastor of St. Michael’s and All Angels in Corona del

Mar, said he is “stunned” by its decision.

“The only analogy I can think of to describe this is when your

spouse files for divorce, and you were thinking that you were only

having an argument about who your uncle was marrying,” he said. “I

only thought this was an in-house dispute, but I never imagined that

it would explode this way.”

What Haynes likes about the Episcopalian Church is that different

parishes can co-exist as part of a family despite their

disagreements, he said.

“I don’t think if you disagree you take your ball and go home,” he

said. “I prize those disagreements.”

From a theological point of view, Haynes said he personally

believes in Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior.

“But the question we leave open is: What about people who don’t

use those exact same words? Is salvation not available to them?” he

asked.

That kind of ambiguous open-endedness is the problem members of

St. James have with the Episcopal Church, Bunyan said.

“When you tell people, ‘What’s right for you is right for you, and

what’s right for me is right for me,’ you’re essentially disregarding

God’s word,” he said.

Richard Dorsey, senior warden at St. John the Divine Episcopal

Church in Costa Mesa, said he is not surprised by St. James’ move.

“It’s unfortunate, but it’s certainly not the first time it’s

happened in the history of our church or any church for that matter,”

he said.

Dorsey and Haynes said that although not all members of their

respective churches agreed with the diocese, no one has come close to

asking for a secession.

It has been a painful process for St. James, Bunyan said.

“We’ve made extensive efforts in reconciliation,” he said. “We’ve

prayed about it for several months. But we’ve remained faithful, and

the Episcopal Church has chosen to move away or differ from the most

basic tenets we believe in.”

* DEEPA BHARATH is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.

She may be reached at (949) 574-4226.