Los Angeles, Calif., Aug 18, 2004 / 22:00 pm
Two Episcopal parishes in southern California announced Aug. 17 that they have left the U.S. Episcopal Church, in reaction to the consecration of an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire last year, reported the Los Angeles Times.
The All Saints Church in Long Beach and St. James Church in Newport Beach became the first of the 147 parishes in the Los Angeles Episcopal Diocese to break from the church. They placed themselves under the leadership of an African Anglican bishop.
“The consecration of the gay bishop was like a line in the sand,” St. James parishioner Jane Irvine told the Los Angeles Times. “You could see the direction was not going to change, and we could not go any further.”
But Los Angeles Bishop J. Jon Bruno, surprised by the split, said he would not relinquish control over the parishes.