[Richard] Crocker added that the congregation would consider its options but that reconciliation was unlikely.<\/p>\n
“Our disagreements [with the Episcopal Church] are profound,” he said in an interview. Parishioners at St. James, he said, are “convinced of the appropriateness of the decision [to leave] and will see it through….”<\/p>\n
Forty miles to the north, near the end of Sunday’s service at St. John’s, Kowalewski sounded a different theme: He said the Episcopal Church was “not a collective of individual operators.”<\/p>\n
Kowalewski read a letter from the Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, the bishop of the Los Angeles diocese, saying, “The Episcopal Church continues its long tradition of welcoming among its members a diversity of opinion, including loyal dissent. Our church remains a large tent expansive enough to include many views and voices while united in common prayer.”<\/p>\n
After the service at St. John’s, just blocks from USC, congregants said they were hopeful the disaffiliated parishes would return to the church.<\/p>\n
“I think you can have diverse opinions,” said Karen Uhler, 68.<\/p>\n