Diocese to establish new congregations

Deepa Bharath

The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles will go ahead with its plans to

establish congregations in areas where previous Episcopal churches

seceded from the diocese -- including Newport Beach -- a spokeswoman

said on Friday.

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

David’s of North Hollywood disassociated themselves in August from

the Episcopal Church of the United States because church leaders said

they did not agree with the national church’s liberal views on

homosexuality, the divinity of Jesus Christ and the supremacy of the

Bible. The churches then placed themselves under the Diocese of

Luwero in the Anglican Province of Uganda, Africa.

The Rt. Rev. Robert M. Anderson, an assistant bishop in the

Episcopal diocese, was appointed to form the congregation in Newport

Beach, and he will begin his work soon, though a definite date has

not been set, spokeswoman Janet Kawamoto said.

The Episcopalian Church of the United States is also a part of the

worldwide Anglican Communion. The diocese is continuing to receive

support from the communities, Kawamoto said.

“Members have contacted us, saying that they are not happy with

their church’s decision,” she said.

In light of many churches in the United States and Canada seceding

from the Episcopal Church and seeking to align themselves with the

more conservative Anglican Union, the Archbishop of Canterbury asked

the Lambeth Commission, a body that is part of the Anglican

Communion, to look into the issues surrounding the controversy.

The disharmony among the churches reached a crescendo with the

Episcopal Church’s appointment of Gene Robinson, an openly gay man,

as the Bishop of New Hampshire. The commission is expected to release

its report and recommendations on Monday.

Praveen Bunyan, rector of St. James, said he would welcome a new

Episcopal church in the community. There are two other Episcopal

churches in Newport-Mesa -- St. Michael’s and All Angels in Corona

del Mar and St. John the Divine in Costa Mesa -- where faithful

Episcopalians may go, he said.

“I always welcome new church plants,” he said. “I’ll pray for

them.”

Bunyan said he knows of one family and three individuals, who were

unhappy with the vote and said they wanted to leave.

“A few others were not happy at first because of the suddenness

with which everything happened,” he said. “They were shocked. But

once they heard more about why we did it, it made sense to them.”

But the church had to cut the cord with the Episcopal Church in

one swift movement, Bunyan said.

“If the diocese had heard about it before we took action, they

would’ve taken steps to make sure our members don’t have a choice,”

he said.

That’s why it was a tightly-guarded secret, which was suddenly

unleashed upon the congregation, Bunyan said.

“Our people needed to have that choice,” he said.

* DEEPA BHARATH is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.

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

[email protected].