The vestries of two prominent congregations in the Diocese of Los Angeles have voted to dissolve their legal ties to the Episcopal Church and come under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Luweero in the Anglican Province of Uganda.

In an interview with The Los Angeles Times, the Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, Bishop of Los Angeles, said the diocese intended to defend the so-called Dennis canon and would not release the property voluntarily.

Representatives of All Saints’ Church in Long Beach and St. James’, Newport Beach, delivered letters to diocesan headquarters on Aug. 17, stating their intention to dissociate from the Diocese of Los Angeles and the Episcopal Church.

Bishop Bruno was not in his office when the letters were delivered, but in a statement published on the diocesan website, he said he had no advance warning that the two congregations were considering leaving and that he had recently offered them and several others the option of alternative episcopal oversight.

“I have informed the Presiding Bishop and have taken and sought counsel” from church lawyers, Bishop Bruno said to the Times. In the letter to [the Rt. Rev. Evans M.] Koseka, [Bishop of Luweero] “I am advising him that I’m not releasing these parishes.”

Under Canon I.7.4, the “Dennis canon,” all real and personal property held by or for the benefit of any parish, mission or congregation is held in trust for the diocese, but under California law parish-diocese property disputes are not bound by Church canons. California, and a number of other states, rely upon the doctrine of “neutral principles of law” and look to the underlying titles, property deeds and trusts to determine ownership of property: a principle re-affirmed in an Aug. 13 appellate court decision, California-Nevada Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church vs. St. Luke’s United Methodist Church.