Diocesan Chancellor Emeritus John R. Shiner – lead attorney who represented the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles in litigation resulting in a unanimous and landmark decision by the California Supreme Court holding that local parish congregations may choose to leave The Episcopal Church, but they cannot take the church property with them because the property is held in Trust for the denomination – died Aug. 2 at age 81.
Shiner, whose death was announced in an Aug. 24 obituary in the Los Angeles Times, is survived by his daughter Hillary Brooke Janneck, son-in-law Nicholas Janneck and grandchildren Henry and Georgina.
Shiner was appointed chancellor of the diocese from 2005 by then-Bishop J. Jon Bruno, who also named Shiner chancellor emeritus in late 2014
Shiner — the only child of Raymond A. and Anne D. Shiner — was born in New York on September 8, 1943. Following his family’s relocation to Los Angeles, Shiner grew up in Brentwood and attended the John Thomas Dye and Harvard schools. He then attended the University of Southern California and was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. He thereafter was admitted to the University of San Diego Law School and served as chairman of the Appellate Moot Court Board.
After graduating from law school, Shiner began his legal career at Darling, Hall, Rae & Gute. He then cultivated his law practice through successive tenures at various law firms: Macdonald, Halsted & Laybourne; Baker McKenzie; Morrison & Foerster; Holme Roberts & Owen, opening its Los Angeles office and serving as managing partner; and Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner.
Bishop Bruno named Shiner an honorary canon of the diocese in 2005. Thereafter, Shiner remained active in church affairs including at the Parish of St. Matthew in Pacific Palisades, where he resided.
Shiner was a long-time member of the Jonathan Club, as his father had been, and served as general counsel to the club for many years working closely with the board of directors. He helped create the club’s Reagan Distinguished American Award presented to recognize individuals for their contribution to our country. Awardees are citizens of the United States who have demonstrated extraordinary qualities of leadership in their field of endeavor, and devotion to the values that have sustained our country since its founding. Shiner also was a long time director of the California State Club Association and through the years represented many of the most highly recognized private clubs throughout California.
In other civic activities, Shiner served as chairman of the Symphony of the Verdugos (Ambassador Auditorium) and on the boards of the Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce, Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, and California Chamber of Commerce.