Williams asked to dissociate Episcopal Church if gay bishop's canonization proceeds

The Association for Chruch Renewal sent the following letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury:

The Most Reverend Rowan D. Williams
Lambeth Palace
London, SE1 7JU

October 29, 2003

Your Grace:
As a fellowship of renewing and confessing movement leaders within mainline Protestant denominations in the United States and Canada, the Association for Church Renewal notes with sadness the decision of the Episcopal Church USA to confirm the election of the Rev. V. Gene Robinson, an unrepentant practicing homosexual, as bishop and to recognize liturgies celebrating and blessing "same-sex unions."

By these radical actions, the Episcopal Church USA has severed its ties with Scripture, with two millennia of Christian moral teaching, with the great majority of Anglicanism's 77-million members worldwide, and with the larger Christian community around the world. We do not believe and cannot accept that this is Christ's will for His Church.

Our Association for Church Renewal is an ecumenical fellowship that represents millions of Christians who continue to live in faithfulness to God's Word. With Scripture and the historic teachings of the Church, we understand marriage to be a covenant between one man and one woman, the only appropriate context for sexual intimacy.

We are weary of divisive and destructive actions being taken by those seeking approval and even sacred blessing of homosexual behavior. Their relentless pursuit of this agenda has deeply damaged the Body of Christ. Already, we observe the results within your own communion, including massive membership losses, financial redirection, the departure of clergy, and threats of disassociation being made by Global South provinces.

It has been said that the acceptance of homosexual behavior by the Church is a necessary accommodation to Western culture. We reject this claim. As Christians who live in the United States and Canada, we know, first-hand, the fragmentation of the family, plague of sexually transmitted diseases, and loss of human dignity that have resulted from our culture's sexual mores. We repent of these practices, and we ask forgiveness of every non-Western culture to which we have exported our culture's licentiousness. We believe Christians are called not to accommodation, but to the transformation of culture.

We respectfully request that the Archbishop of Canterbury and the 37 primates of the worldwide Anglican Communion, heed the pleas from Biblically faithful Christian churches in North America and around the world. In the event that the Episcopal Church USA proceeds to "consecrate" Rev. Robinson's election as bishop, we ask that you declare publicly your refusal to recognize this act, and that you exercise appropriate fraternal discipline by declaring that the Episcopal Church USA has alienated itself from the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Such faithful leadership would bear powerful witness to Christian churches everywhere – and to a watching world – that the Body of Christ continues in fidelity to the Biblical foundation of the one holy, catholic and apostolic Church as the only norm for faith and life.

In Christ,

Rev. James V. Heidinger II, ACR Chairman
President and Publisher
Good News
United Methodist

Mrs. Diane Knippers, ACR Co-Chair
President
Institute on Religion and Democracy

Rev. Parker Williamson, ACR Co-Chair
Chief Executive Officer and Editor In Chief
The Presbyterian Lay Committee
Presbyterian Church (USA)

The following is a partial listing of ACR members:

Ms. Sara L. Anderson
Vice President
Bristol House, Ltd.
United Methodist

Rev. Karen Booth
Executive Director
Transforming Congregations
United Methodist Church

Rev. Mark Chavez
Executive Director
WordAlone Network
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Rev. Susan Cyre
Executive Director and Editor
Theology Matters
Presbyterian Church (USA)

Rev. Ira Gallaway
Associate Director
The Confessing Movement
United Methodist Church

Dr. Christopher Hershman
Evangelical Lutheran Confessing Fellowship
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Ms. Linda Huntington
Administrative Coordinator
American Anglican Council
Episcopal Church USA

Mr. Jim Kushiner
Executive Editor
Touchstone Journal

Mr. Bruce Mason
Media Officer
American Anglican Council
Episcopal Church USA

Pastor Gerald Miller
Member, WordAlone Network
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Sen. Patricia Miller
Executive Director
The Confessing Movement
United Methodist Church

Rev. Bill Nicoson
National Coordinator
American Baptist Evangelicals
American Baptist Church

Dr. Tom Oden
Chairman
Institute on Religion and Democracy
Dr. Oden is United Methodist, the IRD is ecumenical

Rev. David Runnion-Bareford
Executive Director
Biblical Witness Fellowship
United Church of Christ

Mrs. Terry Schlossberg
Presbyterians Pro-Life
Presbyterian Church (USA)

Mrs. L. Faye Short
President
RENEW Network for Women
United Methodist Church

Mr. David M. Stanley and Mrs. Jean L. Stanley
Chairman and Board Member
United Methodist Action
United Methodist Church

Rev. Vernon Stoop, Jr.
Executive Director
Focus Renewal Ministries
United Church of Christ

Mr. Mark Tooley
Executive Director
United Methodist Action
United Methodist Church

Rev. Todd H. Wetzel
Executive Director
Anglicans United (Formerly Episcopalians United)
Episcopal Church USA

Mr. Geoff Wilkins
National Chairman
National Alliance of Covenanting Congregations
United Church of Canada

Comments

[Steve B.]

It has been said that the acceptance of homosexual behavior by the Church is a necessary accommodation to Western culture. We reject this claim.

It baffles me when folks who interpret scriptures literally, dissecting it word by word, prefer to put words in the mouths of others that simply aren't there. The Episcopalians I know sometimes use language like this in casual conversation, but ordination and consecration of women and gays is based on understanding of scripture, not accomodation of culture.

[Rich]

It is comments like this that they are responding to:

"The issue," one of the protesters said, "is not so much homosexuality as it is the place of scripture in our tradition."

We are left thereby to suppose that one of the 613 so-called commandments, which prohibits sex between males, set down by members of a priestly cult in Fifth Century BC Judea, taken together with a homophobic blast of a mid-First Century AD Pharisaic Jew-turned-militant-Christian, dictate the very will and law of an unseen God.

...

The Bible is the repository of great, time-tested wisdom. It also serves as a bin for discarded concepts and notions among which the above cited lines about homosexuality must certainly be numbered -- along with the idea that Earth was created in seven days, and those tempting invitations to smite our enemies for the simple reason that they're not, as Pogo would say, "us."

THE REV. HARRY T. COOK is an Episcopal priest, author and former writer, editor and editorial board member of the Free Press. He is rector of St. Andrew's Church in Clawson. Write to him at revharrytcook@aol.com.

They see not only a different interpretation of Scripture but an abandonment of it. While it might not be an accommodation to Western culture, it is importing of another rule of faith other than Scripture. Add the ridicule of the authors of Scripture and you can see the reason behind such a large response. While appointing a homosexual bishop is the proximate cause of the reaction it is not the ultimate cause. Because of comments like those above when they hear Presiding Bishop Griswold apparently agreeing to: "we re-affirm our common understanding of the centrality and authority of Scripture in determining the basis of our faith" they simply no longer believe him.

[james]

Dear Brother in the Lord,
Greetings to you in the name of our lord Jesus chrish.May the peace of our lord be with you.
On behalf of the hole church i write this mail to you you conening hoe church.I have being worshipping in this uncompleted church for the past 5 years.And we have been collecting donation from the church members every sunday in the services.All this money we have being collecting as being using to complete this our chrrch.We will like to complete this church before January.We thererfore come to you for some finanicial assistance to complete hoe church.May the almighty God continue to be with us in Jesus.(Amen).We will be lookingf forward to hear from you.

Reguards,
Brother James

[jame]

Dear Brother in the Lord,
Greetings to you in the name of our lord Jesus chrish.May the peace of our lord be with you.
On behalf of the hole church we write this mail to you you conening our church.we have being worshipping in this uncompleted church for the past 5 years.And we have been collecting some donation from the church members every sunday in the services.All this money we have being collecting as being used to complete this our chrrch.We will like to complete this church before January.We thererfore come to you for some finanicial assistance to complete church.May the almighty God continue to be with us in Jesus.(Amen).We will be lookingf forward to hear from you.

Reguards,
Brother James