St. James projects beyond legal battle

Deepa Bharath

A church on Via Lido, one of three in Southern California to have

seceded from the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, plans to go full

swing into “church planting” in other Orange County communities, the

church’s pastor said.

St. James Church, along with All Saints’ in Long Beach and St.

David’s of North Hollywood, broke away from the Episcopal Church of

the United States because they did not agree with the bigger church’s

liberal views on homosexuality, the divinity of Jesus Christ and the

supremacy of the Bible.

St. James’ rector Praveen Bunyan said he and many church members

are like-minded when it comes to spreading the gospel.

“The idea stemmed from our own members wanting to take the good

news of Jesus and starting fellowship in different areas,” he said.

Church planting literally means to establish churches or

ministries in a community. It can be done in different ways, Bunyan

said.

“We don’t plan on buying properties or buildings and setting up

churches,” he said. “But we are going to get people together in each

community to form a cell. They can later multiply within their own

community, and if they so desire can even raise the money to build

their own church.”

St. James will simply provide guidance, training and

encouragement, Bunyan said.

For the immediate future, St. James is looking at cities such as

Cerritos, La Mirada, Riverside and Palm Desert, he said. But the

pastor was quick to add that he was not planning on luring people

away from the Episcopal church or any other church.

“I’ve never believed in what I call sheep-stealing,” he said.

“When someone is not happy with their church, I always encourage them

to talk to their pastor.”

The main goal is to reach the “unchurched,” Bunyan said.

“There are many families whose grandparents or parents may have

been Christians,” he explained. “They may even call themselves

Christians. But they probably don’t go to church or don’t have a

relationship with God. That is our target audience.”

The diocese is embroiled in a legal battle with the churches,

having filed lawsuits against them, stating that the property on

which the seceded churches stand as well as the buildings themselves

belong to the diocese.

Despite the legal battle, J. Jon Bruno, bishop of the Episcopal

Diocese of Los Angeles, said he had no problem with St. James’ new

venture.

“The Episcopal Church has planted plenty of churches,” he said.

“All denominations do it. I personally have never stopped anyone from

proclaiming the Gospel.”

St. Michael’s and All Angels Episcopal Church in Corona del Mar

would love to work with St. James on its church-planting mission,

said rector Peter Haynes.

The two churches had many common ministries, all of which came to

an abrupt halt with the secession, he said.

St. James itself was planted by Messiah Episcopal Church, the

oldest Episcopal church in Orange County, Haynes said.

“Our church was in turn planted by St. James and we planted St.

Andrew’s in Irvine,” Haynes said. “That’s the way it all works.”

St. Michael’s would like to work with St. James despite the

differences, he said.

“I still hope and pray that St. James and the other churches will

come back to the Episcopal Church,” Haynes said. “I hope they realize

that our friendships are more important than doctrines and

philosophies. That what unites us is more important than what divides

us.”

But for Bunyan, it’s about proliferating the ideas and doctrines

along with spreading the love of God, he said.

“The question is: How may orthodox, traditional churches exist in

Orange County?” he said. “And how many do we want to see in the next

five years? If we don’t do anything about it, we’ll be one church in

a corner, offering an option.”

* DEEPA BHARATH is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.

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

[email protected].