August 24, 2004

The Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno
Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles
Cathedral Center of St. Paul
840 Echo Park Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90026

Dear Bishop Bruno:

Via Media USA wishes to convey its support for your swift and appropriate actions in response to the decision of two parishes to seek affiliation with the Diocese of Luweero in the Anglican Province of Uganda. The decision of these parishes works against the principles of Christian unity. In receiving these parishes, Bishop Evans M. Kisekka has also broken faith with the Anglican Communion, violating its longstanding agreement to respect provincial boundaries and autonomy. As a nationwide alliance of Episcopal groups dedicated to preserving the unity and integrity of our church, Via Media USA is particularly grateful for your ministry as a bishop in the face of these events.

It is apparent that the Episcopal priests and parish leadership that have taken these divisive steps have lost sight of Anglicans’ traditional tolerance for differing interpretations of Scripture and our commitment to the via media. Unfortunately, these actions seem to confirm that the American Anglican Council/Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes is continuing to implement its strategy to divide the Episcopal Church. The plan, articulated in the Rev. Geoff Chapman’s letter of December 28, 2003, involves a process by which clusters of parishes would attempt to leave the Episcopal Church, resulting in a tangle of legal issues that would cripple the church and divert its resources.

We applaud your move to inhibit the clergy involved and protect the church property. By your actions you have demonstrated that the Rev. Chapman miscalculated when he claimed the church would be too timid to respond to his group’s plans. Please accept our prayers for all concerned. In the difficult months ahead, may the Diocese of Los Angeles be guided and strengthened by its commitment to our precious Anglican traditions and to the polity of the Episcopal Church, and may the parishioners of these two parishes choose to reunite with their sisters and brothers in the Episcopal Church.

In Christ’s Love,
Via Media USA

Christopher I. Wilkins, Ph.D., Facilitator