Canon Voorhees is a lady to be reckoned with. She kept a wary eye on the St. James prolonged nine-year court battle attending most of the many court hearings. She has a Fortune 100 corporate background, has been on the Standing Committee, the Diocesan Council, and is a Director of the Corporation of the Diocese of Los Angeles. She understands the process and is not about to be hornswoggled by her bishop. She is fighting fire with fire.

In late June, the Save St. James the Great Association went to court seeking a temporary restraining order (TRO), claiming that the sale was in violation of specific language of the 1945 deed granting the property to the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles for church use only.

"We were denied the TRO on procedural ground that as mere third party beneficiaries of the deed restriction, the congregation had no technical legal standing to make the claim," Canon Voorhees explained. "The court did not even consider the merits."

Litigation history

Bishop Bruno is no stranger to scrappy litigation with St. James congregations. For nine years he has been engaged in some sort of litigation over the pricy close-to-the-ocean church property. His first legal skirmish came when the original 1200-member congregation, led by The Rev. Praveen Bunyan, left The Episcopal Church in the immediate aftermath of elevating Vicky Gene Robinson (IX New Hampshire) to the House of Bishops. The word "Episcopal" was scrubbed from the sign. The Los Angeles bishop was quick to sue the realigned Anglican congregation for its property and put "Episcopal" back on the sign. The court battle raged on for nearly a decade.

St. James Episcopal Church was originally described as a "biblically orthodox, evangelical church with charismatic roots." In late August 2004, the clergy, vestry, and congregants took decisive steps to distance themselves from the increasing liberal slant of The Episcopal Church by disassociating from the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and affiliating with the Anglican Diocese of Luweero in the Church of Uganda to keep their Anglican moorings. At the same time, two other Los Angeles-area parishes -- All Saints, Long Beach and St. David's, North Hollywood -- also left The Episcopal Church. The three churches drew the ire of the Bishop of Los Angeles.

Bishop Bruno acted quickly. In rapid succession, he attempted to oust the clergy and take physical control of all three parishes. He sent in his Episcopal priests to commandeer each altar and pulpit, and filed lawsuits against the clergy and vestry members of St. James, All Saints, and St. David's. The Los Angeles bishop wanted to interfere with and disrupt scheduled religious worship services, church employment, and impede lawful property use.

He was met with opposition from the Rt. Rev. Evans Kisekka, the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Luweero in Uganda. Bishop Kisekka did not receive the three California parishes unadvisedly or without permission from the Primate of Uganda Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi.

"The Rt. Rev. Evans Kisekka, Bishop of Luweero Diocese, has my full blessing and support in receiving the clergy from St. James Church, Newport Beach..." wrote Archbishop

Orombi. "These clergy are canonically resident in the Luweero Diocese and are priests and deacons in good standing of the Church of Uganda.

"We condemn any attempt on the part of the ECUSA Bishop of Los Angeles to depose our clergy serving at St. James Church, Newport Beach..." the Ugandan Archbishop continued. "He has no jurisdiction over them, and we will not recognize his actions. Furthermore, we appeal to other provinces within the Anglican Communion to recognize our clergy as priests and deacons in good standing."

The African bishops then reached out to retired Bishop Maurice Benitez (VI Texas) for help to provide episcopal pastoral care and ministry for the realigned parishes.

On September 7, 2004, Bishop Bruno headed to court to sue for the departing church properties.

Allan Haley, a California attorney who has kept a close eye on the growing litigation of The Episcopal Church, has crunched the numbers and determined that Bishop Bruno spent in the neighborhood of nine million dollars to wrestle St. James, All Saints, and St. David's away from realigning Anglicans. The sale of St. James is a ploy to help recoup litigation costs.

In the end, the California courts gave all three properties back to The Episcopal Church; the membership of St. James was forced to leave their beloved building September 2013. The final Anglican service was on Sept.15. Just three weeks later on Oct. 6, St. James the Great Episcopal Church took its first breath under the leadership of Canon Voorhees.

St. James the Greater re-established

For the most part, St. James the Great was a re-establishing Episcopal Church plant with fewer than 300 attending the early October inaugural service.

"I pray that all of the congregations in this area support Canon Cindy Voorhees in her ministry here, so we can develop a vibrant, strong congregation that is accepting of all humanity," Bishop Bruno told the budding congregation at the Oct. 6 rededication service. "I want to see this congregation overflowing with joy, with love and humanity."

The 1000-plus membership of the original St. James Episcopal Church stayed with St. James Anglican Church when it was forced from the property at 3209 Via Lido in Newport Beach. It was one of only three Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles parishes with an ASA of more than 500, the other being All Saints in Beverly Hills and All Saints in Pasadena.

Now Bishop Bruno is not supporting Canon Voorhees in her ministry of growing the Episcopal congregation. He tossed the congregation out on its ear, froze the church bank accounts, and turned a blind eye and deaf ear to the daily life of the upstart congregation.

The Newport Beach Indy reports that the congregation is to have 30 days in which to "de-construct, remove stained glass and the ashes of loved ones kept at the church." Its story was reported under the headline: "'Heartless' Bishop Locks Out St. James Congregation."

St. James membership has asked that a "temporary pastoral bishop for oversight of the St. James congregation" be assigned in hopes that the overseeing bishop can convince the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles to allow the congregation back into its building for worship services and normal church operations including established community outreach.

The Indy also reports that Bishop Bruno attempted to "fire" Canon Voorhees by "accepting her resignation." She has not resigned, so Bishop Bruno has nothing to "accept."

He then changed the locks on the doors of the church forcing the Canon to hold Sunday services outdoors. Since California is in the midst of a draught, there is little chance of rain as the congregation has been meeting on Sundays across the street in Lido Park, ever since Bishop Bruno tossed Canon Voorhees and her followers out of St. James. Sunday after Sunday, the spiritually homeless Episcopalians continue to gather as the Gospel is proclaimed, hymns sung, and the Eucharist celebrated. Truckers and motorists honk their horns as they pass.

"St. James the Great Episcopal Church embraces Christ's teaching as a way of life, and is creatively building a 21st-century vision-driven, inclusive, relevant, and dynamic spiritual community whose mission is spreading the Gospel to the world," Canon Voorhees explains that this is the mind, mission and ministry of the congregation.

Religious use clause

Newport Beach is a rapidly growing area. It is a Pacific Ocean seaside community in Orange County. The sandy soil is ripe for the proclamation of the Gospel. The Episcopal Church has had an established presence in the Newport Harbor area since 1941. St. James Episcopal Church became a parish in 1946 and has served the growing area ever since. Now the church is considered to be in the way of the renovation of the Lido Isle area of Newport Beach. The land that it sits on is considered more valuable for pricy high-rise tenements than an oasis where the Gospel is proclaimed.

On July 10, 1945, Griffith Company, the originally developer of the Lido Isle area of Newport Beach, deeded four lots to Bishop William Bertrand Stevens (II Los Angeles) for the express use of building and maintaining a church in perpetuity.

"The property conveyed shall be used (for) church purposes exclusively and no building other than a church and appurtenances may be erected, placed or maintained thereon," the original Griffith Company deed declares. "The foregoing restriction shall be binding upon the grantee [Bishop Stevens], his successors [Bishop Bruno] and assigns."

However, by 1984 St. James had grown to a point that additional parking was needed, so three of the four lots were released for parking to help facilitate the primary church purpose and function.

"Upon the breach of the foregoing condition, the title of said property hereby conveyed and to the whole thereof shall become at one divested from the grantee[Bishop Stevens] herein, his successors [Bishop Bruno] and assigns, and shall revert and revest to the grantor (Griffith Company), its successor or assigns," the original 1945 Griffith land grant reads.

Once the news of the pending sale of St. James was known, the Griffith legal department, in short order, made Bishop Bruno aware of the scope and provisions of the original 1945 land grant -- that he does not have clear title to the land he wants to sell off.

"Griffith Company never released, and never intended to release, the covenant, condition, restriction for 'church purposes exclusively; for the central church building lost, or the adjoining lost from their ancillary role to serve 'church purposes' solely," Griffith Company attorney Ronald Pierce wrote on June 10 to Bishop Bruno.

In true Episcopal fashion, Bishop Bruno is suing the Griffith Company, claiming that restrictions on the church property were released in 1984 when the property was allowed to be used for parking.

It is Bishop Bruno's contention that when the Griffith Company released Lots 1197, 1198 and 1200 of Tract 907 for use as church parking, the action also released Lot 1199 that the St. James Church edifice stands on.

"In the 1984 Quitclaim Deed, Griffith 'specifically releases the Reverter interest' reserved in the 1945 Grant Deed for the Property and quitclaims as to 'Lots 1197,1198 and 1200 of Tract No. 907'," Bishop Bruno argued in his June 26 lawsuit. "By the 1984 Quitclaim Deed, Griffith released, and to release, the Use Restriction from the Property in its entirety."

In September 2013, the California Superior Court awarded St. James property back to the Diocese of Los Angeles, but not to Bishop Bruno as a Corporation Sole.

In a July 8, 2015 letter on the Diocese of Los Angeles website, Bishop Bruno writes that the "Newport Beach property (is) owned by the Bishop as Corporation Sole," and that the "Newport Beach property was in 1945 originally deeded to the Bishop as Corporation Sole," so in keeping with historical precedent the Standing Committee "voted on May 20, 2014, to convey title to the Newport Beach property to Corporation Sole."

"As your bishop ..."

"As your Bishop, I remain focused on these areas while also strengthening sustainable ministries within our diocesan community," Bishop Bruno wrote. "This work involves balancing pastoral care with making responsible fiduciary decisions not only for today but also for the future of the Diocese. This remains the goal of my decision to sell, with the concurrence of the diocesan Standing Committee, Newport Beach property owned by Corporation Sole."

St. James website is now in the hands of the diocese; a posted notice states that the final worship service was conducted on June 28. Queries to the church are to go to the Coordinator of Mission Congregations of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles or e-mailed the bishop's office.

Those seeking Episcopal worship are pointed to: St. Michael & All Angels Episcopal Church, Newport Beach; St. John the Divine Episcopal Church, Costa Mesa; St. Wilfrid of York Episcopal Church, Huntington Beach or St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Laguna Beach. The St. James, Lido Park service is not considered a viable option. Bishop Bruno wants the growing St. James 200-plus congregation broken up and scattered. Of the 134 congregations in the Diocese of Los Angeles, more than 100 have an ASA of fewer than 200 souls.

"We are not dwindling, we are growing," Canon Voorhees told KNBC 4 News. "We are strong, we are sustainable. This is about money."

In a letter to her congregants, the Episcopal canon affirms that, contrary to the information Bishop Bruno is disseminating, St. James is financially viable.

"St. James the Great is a financially viable and sustainable congregation that is not expending hundreds of thousands of dollars of diocesan or corporation sole funds per year," she writes. "The parish has a $530,000 budget and paying ALL its bills."

Too valuable for use

The Newport Beach strip of land isn't the first too-valuable-for-current-use acreage to meet that sort of fate. In 2004 the famed Ponderosa Ranch -- the filming location for the long-running Bonanza television show -- was closed because the land was deemed "too valuable" to be used as a theme park. The land now lies dormant and has not been redeveloped.

One year later, the popular AstroWorld in Houston, Texas, was dismantled so that it's "valuable" land could be turned into additional parking for the growing 350-acre NRG Park complex which now includes the original -- now defunct -- Astrodome; a 1.4 million square foot convention center; a 71,000 seat stadium -- home to the Houston Texans NFL football team; a smaller 8,500 seat sports arena; and an outdoor sculpture garden called Carruth Plaza.

Bishop Bruno has been no gentleman in this latest St. James' skirmish. He appeared at St. James on May 17 to announce to a stunned congregation that as bishop, he was selling St. James complex for $15 million even though its appraised value was about half that.

St. James congregation responded immediately, claiming that Bishop Bruno had betrayed them for $15 million pieces of silver.

"... we feel our trust and faith was betrayed when he told us on May 17, 2015 that he had entered into a contract with a developer to sell the church," the congregants penned in a missive to their bishop, members of the Diocese of Los Angeles Standing Committee, diocesan corporate directors, and Diocese of Los Angeles Episcopal clergy. "Instead of a church that was built to last for centuries, we will have townhouses if this transaction is completed."

Earlier in May, Bishop Bruno had the St. James' incorporation papers changed to show that he was sole corporate officer thus removing St. James from being an incorporation of the Diocese of Los Angeles. With that change in place, the Los Angeles Episcopal bishop could act unilaterally as far as St. James went. He could do what he wanted, when he wanted, and how he wanted. Legally, he was answerable to no one. Since St. James is a mission of the Diocese of Los Angeles, there is no vestry to contend with, only a bishop's committee, in which he holds all the cards.

Or so he thought. With the land sale hanging in the balance, the property that St. James sits on is zoned for private institution use -- including religious --it is not zoned for residential use. Before a zoning change can take place, the property would have to undergo an environmental study before a general and coastal land use amendment could be issued. There would also be a site development review and an approval for a concept and coastal development permit, before a zoning change could take place to allow the expensive condominiums to be built where St. James now stands.

The Diocese of Los Angeles is staying pretty tight-lipped about the whole situation.

Diocesan spokesman Robert Williams told the media that "due diligence on the sale is proceeding. But because litigation is currently pending, I am not authorized to comment any further..."

Bishop Bruno's presentment

Bishop Bruno may be battling Griffith Company on one front, but on another front, he has become enmeshed in Episcopal canon law, unleashed by unhappy parishioners determined to save St. James from the wrecking ball.

On July 6, 2015, a 123 paragraph presentment was filed by St. James members against Bishop Bruno claiming he has violated more than 140 Episcopal canons in his roughshod dealing with St. James through secretive negations to sell the property, selling the property in violation of the restrictions clause in place which prohibit the land to be used other than for church-related proposes, public misstatements about the congregation's viability, the dissimilation of inaccurate and false information about the congregation, misleading pronouncements, by the transfer of a consecrated church for ungodly use, and his failure to fulfill his spiritual duties as St. James "rector."

80 St. James members and eight Diocese of Los Angeles clergy signed the presentment and filed it with the Episcopal Church Intake Officer, Bishop Clayton Matthews.. It was also e-mailed to Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop-elect Michael Curry, Chancellor to the Presiding Bishop David Beers, and Special Counsel to the Presiding Bishop for Property Litigation and Discipline Mary Kostel.

In addition, St. James has sent to every Episcopal bishop a letter outlining the actions Bishop Bruno has taken against the congregation and the ongoing interruption of mission and ministry it is causing. This letter was carbon copied to the Diocesan Standing Committee, the clergy of the Diocese, and Diocese of Los Angeles Corporation directors.

"[W]hen have you ever heard of a thriving, growing congregation being locked out of their church by diocesan officials even before a property sale is complete?" the letter asks.

Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters

Perhaps the Episcopalians can take some comfort in the fact that they are not the only ones battling a bishop over property. Catholic Archbishop of Los Angeles Jose Gomez is attempting to sell the Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters' beloved convent to pop singer Katy Perry for a $15 million price tag. The singer wants to turn the nuns' century-old motherhouse into her personal luxury mansion.

The nuns contend that the Los Angeles convent is theirs while Archbishop Gomez claims he has control of the property to do with as he wishes. The dispute has gone to court.

The IHM Sisters have famously battled Catholic hierarchy before. In 1970, the Sisters locked horns with the late James Cardinal McIntyre over implementing Vatican II reforms. The upshot is the large order of teaching Sisters split over the dispute and now only five aging nuns remain. It is these five Sisters who are battling with Archbishop Gomez over property ownership of the convent where they have lived and prayed for decades.

Mary Ann Mueller is a journalist living in Texas. She is a regular contributor to VirtueOnline