Church crew back from Africa

Elia Powers

Pastor Praveen Bunyan and six of his St. James Church congregants

returned earlier this week from a nearly three-week trip to Uganda,

where they attended a spiritual renewal conference and visited

leaders in the Diocese of Luwero, which they recently joined.

“It was a wonderful trip,” Bunyan said. “It was nice to be there

with our people. It was an incredible blessing to be with our bishop

and our clergy.”

Two members of the church were ordained as ministers in special

ceremonies there, Bunyan said. He and the St. James congregants

joined two members of All Saints Church in Long Beach on the trip.

In August, both churches disassociated themselves from the

Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and announced they would join the

Diocese of Luwero in the Anglican Province of Uganda.

The churches broke away because they disagreed with the Episcopal

Church’s more liberal views on homosexuality, the divinity of Jesus

Christ and the supremacy of the Bible.

St. James Church, located on Via Lido in Newport Beach, removed

“Episcopal” from its name and announced it would become part of the

worldwide Anglican Communion.

Bunyan said once the church became part of the Diocese of Luwero,

it was only a matter of time before he took members to visit Uganda.

“It’s a natural thing for a group to visit its diocese,” he said.

“We were very much at home there.”

Bunyan said the trip was organized through Sharing Of Ministries

Abroad, an organization within the Anglican Communion that connects

members. Bunyan said the group went to a variety of churches, prayed

with local leaders and celebrated Communion.

The renewal conference consisted largely of sermons by clergy and

celebrations of the ordinations.

Bunyan said he hasn’t yet scheduled a time to talk with church

members about the trip.

He said he planned to meet with his lawyer Wednesday night to

discuss the status of a lawsuit filed in September by the Episcopal

Diocese of Los Angeles against St. James, All Saints Church and St.

David’s in North Hollywood, the other breakaway church.

The August secession has set off a heated debate over who owns the

churches and the surrounding properties. Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, the

head of the Los Angeles diocese, maintains that the Episcopal Church

still owns the churches and their properties, but St. James

administrators say the property is owned by a nonprofit organization

that was formed in the late 1940s, not by the diocese.

The diocese is suing the three parishes for return of property,

including church buildings.