A Pastoral Letter from the Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, Bishop of Los Angeles

This letter shall be read at every service in all churches of this diocese
and made available to all members of our congregations this Sunday, August
22, 2004.

August 17, 2004

To my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the Diocese of Los
Angeles:

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus. You may already have heard that two
congregations in this Diocese, St. James¹ Episcopal Church in Newport Beach
and All Saints¹ Episcopal Church in Long Beach, have informed me of the
decisions made by their rectors, wardens and vestries to leave the Episcopal
Church and to join the Diocese of Luwero in the Anglican Province of Uganda,
and that clergy of these churches were now under the bishop of that diocese
The rectors of these congregations appeared unexpectedly, and without an
appointment, at the Cathedral Center on Tuesday morning, August 17, and
delivered written notice of their actions. They also left a voice-mail
message for me and seem to have believed that this served as sufficient
communication with me.

The Reverends Praveen Bunyan, William Thompson and Richard Menees, priests,
and the Rev. Kathleen Adams, deacon, all of whom are clergy of the Episcopal
Church in the United States of America and canonically resident in this
Diocese, have therefore abandoned the communion of this Church. I
temporarily inhibited these clergy immediately and requested that the two
rectors of the congregations meet with me to rescind their decision. They
refused this invitation. Subsequently, I called for an emergency meeting of
the Standing Committee and, in accordance with the canons of this church,
the Standing Committee has informed me in writing that there is sufficient
evidence that these clergy have abandoned the communion and I have responded
by inhibiting them from the exercise of the ordained ministry. Should they
wish to return to the communion of this Church during this period, a process
of restoration will take place. Should they not change their minds, they
will be deposed. My sincere hope for these clergy and vestries is that they
will reconsider their decision and return to full communion with me, the
Episcopal Church and indeed with the Anglican Communion.

All of my actions have been in consultation with the office of the Presiding
Bishop, the Standing Committee and our diocesan chancellors. I have also
written a letter of protest to the Bishop of the Diocese of Luwero with a
copy to the Primate of the Province of Uganda. I have also asked the
Presiding Bishop and the Archbishop of Canterbury to intervene in this
breach of trust and authority.

I have chosen to take the extraordinary step of writing to you in a pastoral
letter because of the extreme nature of the decision these congregations and
clergy have made and the implications it has on our life together, not only
for the Episcopal Church in the USA, but for the worldwide Anglican
Communion.

Our Constitution and Canons help to bring order to our common life in the
Episcopal Church. Recall that much of our current crisis arose after the
General Convention of the Church last summer. The decision to assent to the
election of Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire was made, in large
part, because that diocese duly elected a bishop in accordance with the
canons of this Church. Both the House of Bishops and House of Deputies
attested to the authority of that diocese to elect its own bishop, that it
had been done appropriately and that their decision was based on the quality
of Bishop Robinson¹s life and experience. As a Church, we seek, whenever
possible, to allow autonomy in decision-making to individual dioceses. Each
Bishop in every diocese has authority over the life and work of that
diocese, its congregations and clergy. The Bishop¹s ministry is based in our
belief that in any given place, there is one Bishop, who continues the work
of the holy apostles and is the chief priest, pastor and teacher in that
diocese. Priests exercise their ministry on behalf of their Bishop and only
under the Bishop¹s authority. No bishop outside the diocese has the
jurisdiction to oversee ministry within that geographical diocese. The fact
that a bishop from another autonomous church within the Anglican Communion
has chosen to exercise oversight in this diocese flies in the face of our
ethos as Anglicans and of the catholic unity of the Church. It is a clear
statement that the Diocese of Luwero and its Bishop and the Province of
Uganda and its Primate have broken with the established historic authority
of the Anglican Communion.

This is all the more troubling because for some time now an international
commission of the Anglican Communion, established by the Archbishop of
Canterbury, has been hard at work attempting to respond pastorally to some
of the concerns of more conservative members of the Communion who are
troubled by the decisions of our last General Convention and by the blessing
of same-sex unions taking place in the Church in Canada. The final report of
this commission is due out in approximately one month. How disappointing
that our congregations would make such a decision at such an inopportune
time. Moreover, I have attempted to honor the congregations and clergy who
have dissented from the decisions of General Convention and even offered
them the oversight of a bishop of our Church whose opinions on these issues
are more in keeping with theirs. The rectors of these congregations did not
avail themselves of this opportunity and even up to two weeks ago affirmed
their love and loyalty to me as their Bishop. How distressing their recent
decision has been to me.

It is both my pastoral and fiduciary responsibility as your Bishop, in
concert with the Standing Committee, to protect and preserve the properties
of these congregations as part of the Diocese of Los Angeles. The
consecrated buildings of each of our congregations rightfully belong to the
Episcopal Church in this Diocese and in the USA. I also have a pastoral
responsibility to all those of Christ¹s flock entrusted to my care and am
developing plans for the pastoral care of those members of our Church in
these congregations who seek to maintain their loyalty to this Church.

Perhaps more than any other time I have felt that I am not alone through
this troubling time, not only because similar events have been taking place
in other parts of our Church, but principally because I have been contacted
by our Presiding Bishop¹s office and by many other bishops in our Church
bringing words of encouragement and support, along with the other bishops in
our diocese with whom I have been in contact. Yet even more than these, the
messages of your prayers and love from around the Diocese have heartened me
I cannot thank you enough.

Finally, apart from the issue of sexuality, these clergy have also framed
their leaving in terms I find unfair and false. They have stated that this
Church is not orthodox biblically or theologically. How wrong they are. I
want you to know as your Bishop that I continue to uphold the vows I made on
the day of my consecration ³to guard the faith, unity and discipline of the
Church.² I believe today as I did when I was first ordained that the
Scriptures contain all things necessary to salvation. Yet I will not let the
Holy Scriptures be compromised by those who seek to make their literalist
and simplistic interpretation the only legitimate one. Further, I uphold the
orthodox faith given to us by the apostles in all the essentials laid down
in the historic creeds of the Church. In these necessary things there must
be unity of faith, but in other things there may be diversity within this
roomy house we call the Anglican Communion. Please join with me at this time
as you are gathered at the Lord¹s Table in praying for these congregations,
our Diocese, and for the whole Church. Let us pray:

O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole
Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your
providence, carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation; let the whole
world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and
things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being
brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your
Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the
Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.