The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to announce as early as Monday whether it will hear a property-rights case between the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and St. James Anglican Church in Newport Beach.
 
The court's decision on whether it will hear the case could affect another parish formerly associated with the Episcopal Church: St. Luke's Anglican Church in La Crescenta. 
 
On Sept. 30, Judge John Shepard Wiley, Jr., of the Los Angeles Superior Court, Fourth Appellate District, ordered St. Luke's to surrender the church property to the diocese by Oct. 12. The diocese plans to re-establish St. Luke's-of-the-Mountains Episcopal Church. The Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, Bishop of Los Angeles, will preside at a service of reconciliation at 2 p.m. Oct. 18, the feast day of St. Luke.
 
"Reconciliation and renewal in Christ continue to be our priorities in this transition, with our baptismal covenant calling us to respect every person's dignity," Bishop Bruno said in a statement after Judge Wiley's order. "I welcome all parishioners, present and past, to participate in the ongoing life of St. Luke's."
 
The Rev. Rob Holman, rector of St. Luke's Anglican, said the parish's surrender of the property depends on whether the Supreme Court agrees to hear the case involving St. James. Fr. Holman said the parties will consult with Judge Wiley by telephone if the higher court agrees to hear the case. The parish would ask Judge Wiley to delay his order until the Supreme Court rules on the St. James case.
 
Otherwise, Fr. Holman said, St. Luke's Anglican is prepared to rent space from Vallejo Drive Seventh-day Adventist Church.
 
"In the end, if we have to leave our building, we're excited for what God has in store for us," Fr. Holman told The Living Church.</i> "If the court agrees to hear the St. James case, we're excited for what that may mean for us and many other parishes like ours."
 
Douglas LeBlanc
 
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