Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus. You may already have heard
that two congregations in this Diocese, St. James' Episcopal Church in
Newport Beach and All Saints' 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 ofrestoration 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 Robinson's 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 Bishop's 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 Bishop's 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 Christ's
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 Bishop's 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 "to guard the faith,
unity and discipline of the Church." 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 Lord's 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.

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