It turns out that the Episcopal Church, in the spirit of ecumenism, is secretly working with the Presbyterians, who have been at this a little longer than the Episcopal Church has. In fact, a small group of Presbyterian leaders and attorneys worked out a detailed strategy on how to defeat any local Presbyterian church that tried to leave with its property. The secret Presbyterian plan made the leaked Via Media USA "Day After" plan, penned by Joan Gundersen in 2005, sound like child's play. (Background on Via Media USA's "Day After" plan is here. )

Like the "Day After," the Presbyterian plan did not remain a secret. One day a package arrived at the door of The Layman, an orthodox publication by Presbyterian lay members who are pushing back against the revisionism that has invaded their church as it has the Episcopal Church. In the package were two documents that someone leaked to them so the world could know. These documents are available on The Layman Online. The documents are dynamite, and everyone should read them so you know what is coming to all orthodox Christian churches.

As a part of the ecumenical effort, the Presbyterians have filed a friend of the court brief in California against St. James Anglican Church in Newport Beach. The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles is suing St. James, along with All Saints' Church in Long Beach and St. David's Church in North Hollywood, for their property and assets. Now the Presbyterians are piling on as well - it must have been predestined! The advantage to the orthodox might be that if/when St. James and the others win, it will hurt the Presbyterian Church more, at least in California.

Since this is clearly a Christian church battle and not just an Anglican family one, and since the Presbyterian presbytery in that area has added to the St. James/All Saints'/St. David's legal expenses, perhaps some of the orthodox Presbyterian churches or individuals might wish to help by contributing to those churches' legal defense. We are all in this together - just as the attack on the orthodox is ecumenical, the defense of the orthodox needs to be ecumenical as well.

---The Rev. Canon David C. Anderson is president and CEO of the American Anglican Council. This article originally appeared in the April 27 Weekly Update newsletter of the council and is reprinted with permission