Source: The Church of the Holy Cross
Dear friends and parish family,
General Convention 2006 is over, and I truly thank you for your constant prayer while we delegates dealt with interminable political maneuvering and resolutions designed to obfuscate. We went to General Convention with one overarching plan – to force clarification upon those who wanted none, and to lose gracefully. It would be an understatement to say that we accomplished our goal on both accounts.
The House of Deputies and the House of Bishops failed to affirm the Windsor Report, and the insipid resolution that we did pass, B-033, was immediately rejected by 20 revisionist bishops who said they would not abide by it. We also passed a resolution that opposes any state or federal constitutional amendment that would prohibit same-sex civil marriage or civil unions, and we passed a resolution that states that parts of Holy Scripture are Anti-Semitic.
The bishops chose the Right Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori to be our next Presiding Bishop, and the House of Deputies confirmed her by an approximate 90% margin. Ms. Schori is indisputably the least qualified Presiding Bishop ever chosen, having never served as a rector of a church, and having been a bishop for only five years. In addition, her theological leanings are those of radical revisionism. In her first sermon to General Convention, Katharine Schori referred to Jesus as “our mother, who gives birth to a new creation.” She voted for, and ardently supports Gene Robinson, and she sees nothing but goodness in homosexuality, which she described as just a different gifting.
The Official Convention worship was described as often non-Trinitarian by our Canon Theologian who attended every service. There was no confession of sin at any Communion except the Sunday service. The sermons were for the most part borderline heresy; being Pelagian at best, and sounding like Marcion at worst.
What is clear is that we have two entirely different religions now trying to exist under one name. The Episcopal Church as revealed at General Convention 2006 no longer even remotely resembles the Episcopal Church I once knew. As a result, I find that I must repudiate the national leadership of the Episcopal Church as it is presently constituted, and I repudiate the Episcopal Church that the present national leadership would want us to embrace.
Our Diocesan Standing Committee will meet in a special session this Wednesday, June 28th, and I fully expect them to respond to this Convention strongly and decisively. I ask your prayers as we move ahead in the coming months. I also ask you to remember that we are going to be just fine. I join with our bishops who wrote to us and said:
“Our future as a diocese in full Communion with the worldwide Anglican Communion is bright, and our gospel energy in our parishes and missions is strong. What is critical is that we seek to navigate these turbulent waters together as a diocese, and not simply as individuals or even individual parishes. The Lord will bring us through this time stronger than ever before if we all begin to take more initiative as a body.”
May our Lord Jesus Christ give us grace as we navigate these uncharted waters, and may we rely solely upon Him.
John Burwell
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