St. James Anglican Church in Newport Beach went back before the state Supreme Court Tuesday in the latest chapter in its long-running battle with the Episcopal Church.
St. James was one of three Episcopal churches in Southern California to split from the denomination in 2004, after the national church ordained a gay man as bishop in New Hampshire. The Los Angeles Diocese, later joined by the national Episcopal Church, sued St. James after the split, asserting ownership of the church property at 3209 Via Lido.
Good on this congregation for continuing the fight. The mere fact that they are fighting is a witness to the secular world, that TEC’s apostasy (through consecration of practicing homosexuals as bishops) is not accepted by most of the church.
In fact, I think the matter that has gone back to the courts is a property dispute over the physical assets of the parish. The Court will decide nothing about “TEC’s apostasy” or the validity/wisdom of Gene Robinson’s consecration. The fight is about bricks, sticks, and who owns them. It will not swing in the least on the departing or remaining factions’ views of homosexuality in the Church.
RE: ” The mere fact that they are fighting is a witness to the secular world, that TEC’s apostasy (through consecration of practicing homosexuals as bishops) is not accepted by most of the church.”
Heartily agree, MichaelA — it is an excellent witness to the world of a divided organization and it’s important that the secular world see that.
TEC is deeply wounded from a pr and message perspective, and I believe while under its current leadership it won’t be able to bounce back from that.
Another way to witness (and, in my opinion, a smarter, more effective use of God’s resources) is to start a new parish in new buildings and use that as a platform for testimony about the Gospel. The danger of prolonging a lawsuit as a form of spiritual witness is that it may look to outsiders like a battle over worldly goods.
I agree wholeheartedly NovA Scout. That is why TEC should never have started legal proceedings against departing parishes in the first place – its a very bad witness and gives the impression that the leadership of TEC are only concerned about worldly goods.
This is particularly so when those parishes are departing because of the apostasy of the TEC leadership, i.e. their willingness to consecrate practicing homosexuals as bishops, and their encouragement and acceptance of the anti-scriptural teachings of John Spong et al.