Episcopal Press and News
LOS ANGELES: Hope, healing, reconciliation, moving forward in La Crescenta
Episcopal News Service. October 19, 2009 [101909-01]
Pat McCaughan
An overflow congregation packed historic St. Luke's of-the-Mountains Church in La Crescenta, California for an October 18 Service of Reconciliation and Healing that became a joyous family reunion, a celebratory new beginning and an open invitation to all—but no victory party, according to Bishop of Los Angeles Jon Bruno.
"Any time two Christians walk in different directions, it's not a victory. What we did was gain an opportunity to minister in this place," Bruno told about 300 people who gathered in the stone and glass-walled church in the hills below the Angeles National Forest.
After three years of costly, bruising litigation that at times made him "want to turn tail and run," Bruno said emphatically, "We fought for this property, for the people. We fought for its history, for the reality of the Episcopal Church. We fought for justice, for mercy and, most importantly, for our baptismal covenant. We will respect the dignity of every human being and work for justice and mercy."
In 2006, a majority of members of St. Luke's voted to join three other dissident area congregations who, citing theological differences over the ordination of women and gays, disaffiliated from the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Los Angelesbut sought to retain property and assets.
The legal struggle over St. Luke's ended September 30 when a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ordered the property returned to the diocese. On October 5, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal in a similar property dispute with St. James Church in Newport Beach, also affecting litigation with All Saints Church in Long Beach and St. David's Church in North Hollywood.
On October 12, Bruno received St. Luke's keys and along with diocesan staff members and a former parishioner "immediately surrounded the altar, held hands and prayed that all the people who'd ever attended this church will feel welcome to come back here," he told Sunday's gathering.
"This place will be a welcoming place for all humanity, regardless of race, age, creed—yes, creed—or sexuality," said Bruno, who officiated in gold vestments embossed with images of hands touching each other, an iconic symbol of his 'Hands in Healing' ministry.
At the service, held on the feast of the 85-year-old church's patron saint, Bruno issued an open invitation to former members. "We are here to be a beacon to the world around us. We've been faithful, patient, diligent, open and reconciling. There will never be a day that any member of this congregation … will not be welcomed back with open arms. I've made sure of that," he said when introducing the new vicar, the Rev. Bryan Jones.
"We will not force you to believe one way or another. He's going to be here with open arms to organize people and to start this place off as a new congregation but never leaving the old congregation behind," Bruno said of Jones, a community organizer and the former rector of St. Thomas of Canterbury Church in Long Beach, also in the Los Angeles diocese.
Jones is married to the Rev. Amy Pringle, rector of nearby St. George's Church in La Cañada.
Bruno also introduced the Rev. Kirby Smith as part-time associate who will serve "to help make this a place of total inclusion."
Both Jones and Smith said they were overwhelmed by Sunday's service and outpouring of support from the wider diocesan community.
"I'm really thankful for Bishop Bruno's courage, perseverance and faith," Smith said after the service. "It made this day happen."
Jones paused to greet a new parishioner with, "We'll be in touch." He added "Think how buoyed the members of the congregation feel, being welcomed back into the community."
He plans to hold 8:00 a.m. services beginning October 25, and eventually to add a second 10:00 a.m. Sunday service once ministry teams are in place.
Jones said he hopes to reach out not just to former and current St. Luke's members, but "also to offer people in the whole community some fresh encounters with Christ."
Ruth-Anne Nardoni, who first attended St. Luke's in 1958, said on Sunday she'd already rejoined the church.
"I am absolutely overjoyed to be here, just thrilled," she said. "My children grew up here. My husband was on the vestry. My son was an acolyte. All my children sang in the choir. One of my girls was in the famous Girls Friendly Society. That was a happy, happy time.
"I just went into the church and signed up to see what I can do to help. You bet I'll be back here."
John Breckow of La Crescenta spent time reacquainting himself with the property. "I know every inch of these grounds by heart. I can tell you where every memorial is," said Breckow, 36, a parishioner since he was 18 months old.
"We had Boy Scouts troop meetings in the basement. We put on Christmas pageants here. Our children were baptized here. My wife and I were married here. We had youth groups in Sadler Hall. I have wonderful memories of Fr. (C. Boone) Sadler," former rector of the parish.
He and his family left six months before the congregation disaffiliated. "It seemed they were on a trajectory we just didn't agree with," he recalled. "We had a lot of friends, my mom and dad had a lot of friends here and suddenly we had to choose up sides. It was a very sad time for us."
Bruno's message of reconciliation was comforting "on a day that is surreal," Breckow said. "It's a very wonderful church. It's very comforting to be back at a church that I didn't think I'd ever see the inside of again. It's nice to feel welcome here again. It's nice to have it back in the Episcopal family."
But some long-time members like Pat Huber, 78, while grateful to regain the property, weren't sure they'd rejoin.
"Oh happy day," said Huber, who was on hand October 12 along with Bruno to pick up the keys, another emotional day. Flooded by 75 years of memories, she doubts she'll return.
"St. Luke's was my life. I was three years old when my parents came here," she recalled. "I was on the vestry, the altar guild, a Sunday school teacher. I got married here. My children grew up here. My mother was buried from here."
Still, "it wasn't a hard decision to leave three years ago, because I disagreed with so much of what St. Luke's had become. God created us all in his image and everyone should be welcomed," she said.
Three years ago, Jerry and Ruth Jones also left St. Luke's, after "the church was hijacked and turned into a very different congregation." They began attending St. George's, La Cañada, where she now serves as a vestry member.
"The split was horrifying, very sad," she recalled, adding that the couple has subsequently moved on. "I'm not going to return. This needs to be a new group."
Larry Sawyer, treasurer of the Diocese of Los Angeles, said he has also moved on, literally. He now lives some 75 miles south, in San Clemente. A St. Luke's parishioner for 30 years, he recalled reacting with disappointment and surprise "when the vote was taken to separate and disassociate from the Episcopal Church.
"That was an emotional day. Today, however, is very happy, a very good day."