Church members are almost home

It would appear that the long, difficult journey being made by members of Newport Beach’s St. James Church to Uganda is nearly over. It’s been a journey that probably would have been easier had those people physically been walking, day after day, to the African country.

Instead, the church members’ struggle has been a legal one since they decided in August 2004 to secede from the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, drop “Episcopal” from the church’s name and join the Diocese of Luweero in Uganda, Africa. Led by Pastor Praveen Bunyan, church members broke from the Episcopal church over issues regarding the divinity of Jesus Christ and the supremacy of the Bible.

Bunyan maintained that the church’s liberal stance on homosexuality had nothing to do with the decision, though he did say that his church would not marry gay couples, and the archbishop of the Diocese of Luweero made strong statements against the Episcopal church’s appointment of a gay man as a bishop.

Since the beginning, we have supported the church’s right to pursue its own faith -- everyone is free to worship and believe how they wish, a fundamental tenet of our country -- while dearly hoping the church’s concerns were solely about the more religious matters and not the issue of homosexuality. Members should welcome all who want to enter the church’s doors.

We also have supported the church’s ownership of those doors -- the issue that has been the center of this 14-month struggle. Following the church’s secession, the Episcopal Church of the United States filed a suit, claiming it owned the church buildings and surrounding property along Via Lido on the Balboa Peninsula.

The courts have repeatedly and strongly denied those claims, including again last week when Orange County Superior Court Judge David Velasquez ruled that the national church failed to show enough evidence to claim St. James’ property or stop the secession.

St. James leaders and attorneys hailed the ruling as nearly the end of their fight, though the national church may file yet another claim. Lets hope it does not. The courts have made it clear that St. James owns its property, and any further lawsuits are unlikely to reverse that course. Nor, clearly, are members of St. James going to reverse the course they have taken toward their more conservative worship. They should not have to.