As an immigrant to this country nearly 40 years ago, I know the hoops I jumped through getting here that included police background checks from three other countries I had lived in including my country of origin. That aside, I understand Mr. Vivian's concerns about people born in this country of illegal parentage and the "justice" they seek.

My real issue with Vivian is that his case could be made by any one of a dozen agencies and non-profit organizations concerned about this issue. The deeper question is how will this lead his congregation to a deeper walk with their Lord, how does this touch on the great doctrines of redemption and grace of justification and sanctification that he should be talking about. This is not a case of William Wilberforce eliminating slavery. Wilberforce was an evangelical who saw what he did in the framework of the gospel of God's grace and liberation, not only from personal sin and redemption, but the sin of a nation enslaving people for economic gain. He called for personal and national repentance. There is not a hint in anything Vivian said that would indicate that his framework is formed by the same mindset.

The story goes on to tell of the heart wrenching loss of properties in the ensuing lawsuits. Now they are back together, the fourth property in the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin to be returned to the Episcopal Church after theological differences divided the diocese in 2006, said the article.

About 200 Episcopalians from across the Diocese of San Joaquin and community members gathered at St. Paul's to celebrate the return of the property and hear Episcopal San Joaquin Bishop Chet Talton preach a message of inclusion and the congregation burst into a song with poignant meaning: "All Are Welcome." A man who said he was gay said he found The Episcopal Church and felt welcome. He thought he would never have a church home again. He also liked the church because of its focus on mission and outreach.

St. Paul's assisting minister who is developing the congregation's Latino ministry repeated several times that all are welcome. One person said they first joined the church because of its inclusiveness.

What's wrong with this picture? Much in every way.

There has never been a single Episcopal Church in the US that has not been welcoming of all persons. Not one. "The Episcopal Church Welcomes You" has been a sign on every Episcopal Church. No exceptions. All branches, liberal, Anglo-Catholic and Evangelical have always been fully inclusive. I have never heard of a single case where a rector waited at the front doors of a church on Sunday morning and said, "Excuse me, sir, are you gay? You are, please leave." Never happened.

What has happened has been the dumbing down of sin, a word that is almost now a hate word. No Episcopal church has ever excluded homosexuals, lesbians or transgendered persons. What orthodox Episcopal churches have said is that you can come as you are but don't expect to stay as you are. The gospel transforms you; turns you around (metanoia) or it has no message to proclaim that separates us from Unitarianism.

Angelo A. Haddad, a licensed Lay Eucharistic Minister with Trinity Anglican Church and a life-long resident of Bakersfield, has a different view of the history of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. He said the parish is collateral damage from a progressive theology.

He blasted the Rev. Vivian saying that a letter he wrote, "Church with rightful owners," in response to a letter by the Rev. Thomas C. Hunt's titled, "Episcopals stole that church" was inaccurate in fact and substance.

"St. Paul's Episcopal Parish was a California incorporated entity for most of its 134 years. The present facility was built in 1954 after the 1952 earthquake destroyed the old building on Eye Street. The new facility and the property it occupied were owned by the parish corporation, not by The Episcopal Church of The United States of America, later to be renamed The Episcopal Church (TEC).

"On Dec. 8, 2007, the 195 delegates to the Episcopal Diocese's annual convention voted 88 percent affirmatively to disassociate from TEC in order to preserve its place in the worldwide Anglican Communion. That precipitated a Diocese-wide split of Anglicans and Episcopalians and, ultimately, a court fight that was decided in favor of the Episcopalians. That describes the what. More important is the why. The widely reported reasons for the split -- the ordination of an openly practicing homosexual as Bishop and the blessings of same sex unions -- were just the tip of the iceberg. The actual reason was much more profound and fundamental, albeit less newsworthy. In its passion to pursue a progressive theological paradigm embracing cultural sensitivity (inclusiveness) and intellectual freedom, TEC cast aside fundamental Christian doctrines, professing, among other things:

* Jesus was not born of a virgin, was not God incarnate, and his resurrection is questionable at best;

* Man needs enlightenment, not salvation; we are to reconcile ourselves with one another, not with God;

* Scripture is not authoritative nor the revealed word of God, but rather metaphorical.

"Simply put, Anglicans left TEC because of their faithfulness to the fundamental and historical Christian foundation that the Holy Scriptures are the final authority of its faith.

"The tragic fallout of this split is multifaceted. A lady I have known and worshipped with for 30 years approached me, saying homosexuals were not welcome at St. Paul's. I was taken aback by her misconception. I reminded her that on every Sunday, the priest who is celebrating Holy Communion invites 'all baptized Christians as being welcome here at the Lord's Table.' Not blessing same sex unions is an unrelated issue."

Haddad added a personal footnote. "From a personal perspective, my family's relationship with St. Paul's dates back to 1946 when I was 5 years old. I became an acolyte (altar boy) at age 8 and worshipped in the old brick church until the 1952 earthquakes. I was confirmed in the new church building, and my wife and I were married there, as were my sister and daughter. My two children and grandson were baptized at St. Paul's. Nine rectors, from father Ralph Cox to father Karl Dietze, who has guided us through this difficult time, have presided during my 66 years at St. Paul's. I have witnessed three successful capital fund drives during that time with the installation of the magnificent pipe organ in May 1996 and the "burning" of the church's mortgage in 1984. I have been privileged to worship at the awe-inspiring marble altar that survived the earthquake all those years and as a lay minister for over 20 years. I dare say that very few of the people now worshipping at that same altar are aware of its rich history, and fewer still have the same "skin in the game." It pains me, as I am sure it does many other long time members of St. Paul's, to be uprooted from the building that has been the site of our spiritual lives -- as well as our burial plots in the memorial garden.

"We didn't leave The Episcopal Church, The Episcopal Church left us. To paraphrase our patron saint, Saint Paul, in his letter to Timothy, "We have fought the good fight, we have kept the faith, and we will finish the race."

Haddad captures it exactly right.

The evidence now becomes clearer by the day, mainline Protestantism is dying in America because it refuses to preach a clear redemptive message that separates it from all other messages. Preaching on a whole host of social issues, however noble, can never transform the individual from sin and death to life eternal.

Embracing sodomy, gay rites and gay marriage are not life transforming moments they are capitulations to the culture, a "culture of death" as Pope John Paul II put it.

When liberal Episcopal churches proclaim how "welcoming" they are, they deliberately insult orthodox Episcopal churches inferring that somehow they are not welcoming. That is false and a lie. The lie is compounded when people like Louie Crew and Gene Robinson who openly espoused that "welcoming" homosexuals following Robinson's consecration, would see the church grow with thousands of gays pouring into the church. It never happened.

Episcopal churches continue to empty across the country with 50% being small or family-sized congregations whose average worship attendance is 70 persons or less. Overall, only 63% of Episcopal parishes have at least one full-time paid clergy. Given the economic challenges, this percentage is expected to decrease. Another 25% are served by part-time clergy, unpaid clergy, retired priests, or by seminary students. The remainder report having no clergy at all or that they are served by supply or interim priests.

The push for non-celibate homosexual practice, now the norm with an openly lesbian bishop in play has made TEC the subject of condemnation and censure by orthodox bodies around the world including Anglican African provinces.

What about homosexual behavior then has been a win win for The Episcopal Church?

Nathan Boles, 28, who was baptized at St. Paul's as a child, said he left the church while Mark Lawrence was rector (1997-2007). "It was terrible the way people turned on one another," he recalled. Lawrence went on to become bishop of South Carolina in 2008 and in October 2012 sought to disaffiliate that diocese from the Episcopal Church.

When I wrote to SC Bishop Lawrence he wrote back saying, "Actually he (Bowles) came back to the church during the last couple of years I was there." The moral here is, don't believe the liberal spin.

According to the ENS story there are still five more cases to contend with and resolve which involve approximately 33 more properties, including the Camp and Conference Center, and the cathedral, along with the related diocesan investment accounts. Most of the remaining five cases will proceed to trial, with the first case scheduled for trial in early January.

In all likelihood the Dennis Canon will triumph, but the victories will be pyrrhic. Returning Episcopalians are not numerous enough to pay for the church's upkeep and a full time parish priest. Some of the properties will be sold to evangelical start up churches, others will be forced rent to other groups ranging from small orchestras to yoga classes and social clubs who are prepared to pay for parish use.

God is not mocked. The Episcopal Church is reaping what it has sown and every dollar spent on litigation is unrecoverable. The bottomless pit of money is no longer bottomless, witness the need to "restructure the church" and, if need be sell off 815 2nd Ave. in New York the church's national headquarters.

Time is not on the side of The Episcopal Church it is on the side of the Anglican Church in North America.

END