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RECTOR'S STATEMENT
Reverend David A. Stenner
Adapted from the Rector’s Report delivered at the
Annual Meeting January 18, 2004
Last year was a monumental one in the mission and ministry of All
Saints’ Church. We continued to grow in numbers and grace, and we have
accomplished much. Two highlights of 2003 were the expansion of our
physical plant with the acquisition of the property at 201 E. Chatsworth
and the hiring of the Rev. Dan Tuton as our associate. We will all
rejoice next Saturday as Dan is ordained to the sacred Order of Priests.
On August 5, 2003, the House of Bishops, following an initial action by
the House of Deputies, gave consent (roughly 60-40 percent) to the
election of Gene Robinson to become the next Bishop of New Hampshire.
Gene Robinson is an outspoken gay man who has lived openly with his
partner for over a decade. He is also a divorced father of two children.
At a later point in the same convention, delegates and bishops gave
permission for the blessing of gay unions in any diocese that may choose
to grant license to perform them. The Bishop of Maryland and our lay
delegates voted for these actions. On November 2, 2003, Gene Robinson
was consecrated Bishop, and that action has caused a crisis in the
Episcopal Church in the United States and the world wide Anglican
Communion.
These actions came after the 1998 Lambeth Conference of Bishops from
around the world voted 526 to 70 (with 40 abstentions) that, though we
need to be pastorally sensitive to homosexual people, homosexual
behavior is incompatible with scripture. The Primates said, please don’t
do this. The Anglican Consultative Council, advisory board of the
Anglican communion, said, please don’t do this; the Archbishop of
Canterbury said, please don’t do this; and even the theological
committee of the Episcopal Church of which our bishop is a part said,
please don’t do this.
The reason why these requests are important has to do with the very
nature of our church. Just as individual congregations do not stand
alone, we are part of a larger church and are accountable to the church.
The Episcopal Church in America is only part of the Anglican Communion
and the church catholic. I will deal with what that means in a moment.
Within this interconnected Christian community, when one part makes a
decision it does so usually in consultation with the rest of the church.
Any action by one also affects the others; we have witnessed such a
situation as the ripples from our actions have lapped against the shores
of the church throughout the world.
There are some who view the actions of convention as an act of justice.
Some believe that the Holy Spirit has called the Episcopal Church to
step out as a prophetic voice for gay and lesbian rights. For them, the
actions of convention have been celebrated as a move toward greater
inclusiveness. Others, myself included, see the actions of convention as
a radical departure from the clear teaching of Scripture, a departure
from the historic doctrine and discipline of the church as it pertains
to marriage and human sexuality, and a disregard for the catholicity of
the church. The actions of convention also are seen by many as a
violation of the constitution of the Episcopal Church.
The situation in the church did not happen in a vacuum. The Rev. Dr.
Phillip Turner, former Dean of Yale Divinity School, wrote an excellent
article outlining the trajectory of the Episcopal Church over the last
40 years. Dr. Turner observed that years ago the Episcopal Church,
whether consciously or unconsciously, placed itself as a bridge church
between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism in America. Over time,
however, the Episcopal Church embraced a new self-image, that of an
alternative to the rigidity of Catholicism and fundamentalism, and began
to preach an enlightened religion attuned to the latest movements of
liberal culture.
The power of this new self-image was shown in the 1960s when the late
Bishop James Pike was accused of heresy for stating in Look magazine
that the doctrine of the Trinity was not essential to the Christian
faith. Fearing that a heresy trial would throw us back into the past
when the church was oppressive and intolerant of opinions, the Presiding
Bishop did not want to have a heresy trial. Bishop Pike was censured,
but he was never required to renounce his statement, nor was he
inhibited. Disagreeing with even the mild punishment meted out to Bishop
Pike, a group of bishops wrote in a minority report, “We believe that it
is more important to be a sympathetic and self-conscious part of God’s
action in the secular world than it is to defend the positions of the
past, which is a past that is altered by each new discovery of truth.”
In this minority report Bishop Pike was not viewed as a heretic, but as
a casualty of our Christian mission in our day.
The direction now seems to be that the church should take up social
causes with little regard to Scripture or tradition. I am not saying it
is wrong to seek justice and equality for all, but to do so at the
expense of the faith that has proven itself true for 2000 years is more
than I can support.
We have come to a point where one of the recently retired bishops, who
vowed to defend the faith at his consecration, has called into question
everything from the Virgin Birth, to the Deity of Jesus, to the
Resurrection itself. He has done this without consequences or censure.
Some believe that the Episcopal office should be used as a “prophetic”
lever to pry people from the incrusted positions of the past, instead of
using it as a defender and guardian of the faith once delivered. In
opposition to this belief, there is now a dissenting voice calling the
church back to its historic doctrinal roots. In 1991 a group of priests
from the Diocese of Maryland brought a resolution to the floor of
Convention restating the basic fundamentals of the Christian faith. Much
of the resolution was referred to committee, but the section that
resolved that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, was firmly
defeated. Imagine voting down what Jesus clearly said about himself.
This past August at convention a resolution was presented by the Bishop
of Quincy, asking the bishops to reaffirm the authority of Scripture in
all matters pertaining to the faith, and to reaffirm the Chicago-Lambeth
Quadrilateral, which contains the essence of what it means to be an
Anglican. This resolution was defeated. Thus the crisis in the church is
well beyond the issues of sexuality; it is about the very faith we share
with Christians throughout the world. It has led some leaders to
declare, “We are fighting for the very soul of the Episcopal Church.”
That is the background as I see it. I now want to address the critical
issues of convention: A radical departure from the clear teaching of
Scripture, a departure from the historic doctrine and discipline of the
church as it pertains to marriage and human sexuality, and a disregard
for the catholicity of the church.
1) Scripture
Proponents on both sides of the issue back their claims by using
Scripture. The Bishop of Maryland has held 14 teaching sessions around
the diocese explaining how the Scriptures support lifelong, monogamous,
same sex relationships. With all due respect, I strongly disagree with
this teaching, and so do the vast majority of Christians around the
world. The heart of his argument is that the Biblical writers didn’t
know about sexual orientation, and thus scriptural prohibitions do not
pertain to our day. For me this argument calls into question the very
inspiration of Scripture and the nature of God. Is Scripture a human
document, or is it divinely inspired by an all-knowing God? Yes, the
writers were bound to their sphere of knowledge, but God is not. If the
Bishop’s argument is true, then all of Scripture and its authority are
called into question and are open to challenge or change.
Another argument is that Jesus himself was silent on the issue. This is
true, but Jesus was silent on many issues. Sexual morality was at the
heart of the Jewish faith. Hebrew Scripture consistently condemns sex
outside of marriage, and Jesus’ audience knew that. He did say, “ I did
not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it.”
2) Historic Doctrine
Another argument for the blessing of same sex relationships goes
something like this. Over the past several centuries, the church has
realized it was wrong about slavery, racial discrimination, and women’s
equality. Accordingly, the church changed its teaching. I do not have
the time to go into detail about this argument and would be willing to
explore this further, but the short answer is that same sex relations
are universally condemned in the Scripture and nowhere are they spoken
of in a positive way. Secondly, the modern world is treating it as a
social justice issue, but Scripture and the 4000-year-old community of
faith have regarded it as a moral issue, i.e. sin. It has never been a
sin to be a woman, but the Bible does consider homosexual behavior –-
and remember I said behavior, not orientation -- to be sinful.
We are not a confessional church. We do not have a list of things we
believe, but we believe what we pray. Episcopalian beliefs are expressed
by the prayers and liturgies laid out in the Book of Common Prayer.
That is why revision of the Prayer Book is such a serious matter. By
approving the blessing of same sex marriages and allowing liturgies to
be formulated, we are changing our doctrine. Our constitution clearly
states that this action cannot be done in the manner it was done at
Convention. To my knowledge this issue has yet to be addressed by the
Episcopal Church.
Holy, Catholic and Apostolic
In our Creed we say that we are one, holy, catholic, and apostolic
church. We are one church; denominationalism has separated us but there
is only one church, that being the Church of Jesus Christ. We are holy,
not because of anything we do, but because we are made holy by God
himself, who has redeemed us, forgiven us, and transformed us into his
holy image. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but in
him we are being made new, we are called to change everything in us that
doesn’t conform to the holiness of God as revealed in the Word.
Catholic means universal, we are a part of the church in all places and
in all times. In the words of a contemporary theologian, this means that
in a sense we stand on the shoulders of those that have gone before. We
must pay attention to the history of the Holy Spirit. We are conciliar,
meaning that throughout the history of Christianity, councils of the
whole church made decisions. We are humbly accountable to our sisters
and brothers around the world. No decisions on the doctrine or faith
should be made outside of the council of the entire church.
The General Convention acted unilaterally in direct defiance of the
world’s churches. I am puzzled how our Presiding Bishop can criticize
the American government for unilaterally going to war in Iraq, but at
the same time he ignores the pleas of Christians around the world not to
make the decisions which we have made.
The bishops of the Anglican Communion meet every ten years. At the last
meeting they overwhelmingly affirmed the historic teaching of the church
regarding sexual matters: that sex is between a man and a woman who are
married. The Orthodox, Evangelical, and Roman Catholic churches
throughout the world have all warned the Episcopal Church not to
unilaterally take the action it took. The Pope personally spoke to the
Archbishop of Canterbury just before the consecration and warned of dire
consequences. Bishops of the Anglican Communion worldwide asked us not
to proceed. But we did, and we broke from our catholicity.
As an apostolic church we are sent with a message that all are welcome
and all are called to be reconciled to God. God loves us too much to
leave us where we are. In the words of the Reverend Martyn Minns, “The
Gospel is a gospel of radical inclusion but it is also a gospel of
profound transformation. My conscience as well as the clear teaching of
scripture tells me that we have changed this from a gospel of
transformation to a gospel of affirmation.”
Transformation means that this is not about inclusion and exclusion. We
welcome everyone. We are not anti-anyone. I have a wonderful article by
Church of England priest Vaughan Roberts who writes, “the inclusivity of
the Christian faith is very precious: but what does it mean?” He goes on
to explain how the Bible defines it. “All people are created in God’s
image, all people are fallen, all people are invited to receive the
benefits of the Gospel, all people are called to transformation, all
disciples of Christ have joined a new community.” I’ve said this over
and over again: God loves us just as we are, but he loves us too much to
leave us that way.
The fallout and effects of our drift from the historic faith have been
felt in almost every Episcopal congregation in America. Many people have
left the church and many churches have suffered great financial losses.
Though the actions of convention are not the only reason, 26 parishes in
this diocese alone have appealed to the diocese to forgive or reduce
their assessments. This is up from an average of three.
Remember that the membership of the Episcopal Church in America is less
than three percent of all Anglicans around the world. Many Anglican
churches throughout the world have declared the Episcopal Church out of
communion, or in impaired communion. At least 13 Anglican provinces have
deemed our actions as heretical and have broken communion. Recently in
one diocese in the Global South, all representatives from the US church
were asked not to attend the consecration of their new Archbishop. Some
churches in Africa have asked that we not send any more missionaries to
them. The bishop of our companion Diocese in Accra, Ghana, who was
recently elected as Archbishop of Western Africa, strongly condemned the
actions of our church. Much of the opposition comes from the Global
South where the church is growing in unheard of numbers. At the same
time the Episcopal Church in America has struggled to maintain its
shrinking numbers. This alone might tell us something.
Our Presiding Bishop has come under fire from all angles and has been
urged to resign by some of his colleagues. He has resigned from the
chairmanship of the Roman Catholic / Anglican ecumenical dialogue and in
the words of the Pope, relations between us are strained at best. Talks
between our churches are halted for now. The Eastern Orthodox Church has
broken all relationships with us, as have many of the Evangelical
denominations. The Episcopal Church in America is on the verge of
schism, yet my prayer remains that God will find a way to hold us
together. At the emergency meeting of the primates, plans are being
worked out to provide Episcopal oversight to those churches that do not
feel that they can accept the actions of their bishops.
My personal crisis is this. I love the Episcopal Church and I find it a
privilege to be a priest. I take my priesthood seriously, and I also
take my vows seriously. When I was ordained I proclaimed that I believe
Holy Scripture to be the Word of God and to contain all things necessary
to salvation. I promised to follow the doctrines and discipline and
worship of the church, and to obey my bishop and submit to his pastoral
authority. Neither one of our bishops has asked that we do anything that
is against conscience, and I don't want to attack them. Our bishops have
been graceful in the midst of this controversy as much as we disagree.
And they have been respectful, and I pray that I have been respectful to
them. I have a wonderful relationship with them. I respect their office,
but deep in my heart I believe that they are in grave error. I must ask
myself how can I keep my ordination vows with integrity. This is a
question that many ordained clergy are asking. This dilemma is not new.
The Scriptures tell of how the apostles were commanded to stop preaching
the Gospel by both the religious leaders and the government officials.
They asked themselves, are we to obey God or men? Thus far our bishops
have not inhibited those who believe as I do in any way, as some bishops
have done in other dioceses
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Those of us who disagree with the actions of convention are waiting to
see what plans will be developed for alternative Episcopal oversight. I
have also joined with like-minded loyal Episcopalians at meetings in
Dallas and Virginia to support one another and to seek God’s way. In
spite of what you may have read in the papers, these meetings have been
respectful, worshipful, and humbling. I have also aligned myself with
the American Anglican Council and a group of about 24 clergy here in
this diocese who meet on a regular basis to give each other mutual
support and to work together for the renewal of our Church. We are
exploring on the diocesan level the possibility of forming an AAC
chapter in Maryland. Members of vestries in our Diocese who think
like-mindedly are meeting to do the same.
I have been pleased to learn that the strategy for the AAC at this time
is to stay and work within the Episcopal Church. At the request of the
Archbishop of Canterbury, the Network of Communion Dioceses and Parishes
is forming. This network, under the leadership of Bishop Duncan of
Pittsburgh, is planning to remain within the canons of the Episcopal
Church and provide resources for teaching, worship and pastoral care to
like-minded parishes and individuals. There are many voices that want to
split and form another denomination, but the leaders of the AAC and the
Network of Communion Dioceses and Parishes have urged us to stay and be
a witness and transforming agent in the church. Schism is a last resort.
Our Vestry has decided to continue our diocesan pledge for now. We are
still a part of this diocese and feel it is our moral and ethical
obligation to pay our way.
Back when all of this started Bishop Duncan prophesied that the road
before us would be long and muddled. Perception of the events would be
subject to the predictable “spin.” Please keep that in mind as you read
the papers and surf the Internet. He went on to say that God will be in
the middle of it all and our God will bring about His will. So I ask you
to be patient, be diligent, and be prayerful. Patient as the Lord works
in the hearts and minds of his people, diligent proclaiming the Gospel
of Christ’s transforming love, and prayerful that the Holy Spirit will
always lead us in the Father’s will.
For our All Saints’ family, please pray for the Vestry and leadership of
the parish and for me that we hear God and make wise decisions for the
welfare and good of this church. Over the next months we will be
studying and praying about our options. Please pray also for a
revitalized call to mission and ministry for us. The events of the past
months have taken the energy out of our programs, and I pray that we can
refocus and continue the work God has called us to do.
Please continue to show respect for one another, especially those whose
opinions are different than yours. I realize that there are people in
the church who differ from me. If we focus on our differences, our life
and ministry will be hindered. If we are all willing to keep our eyes on
Jesus, then He will send his Holy Spirit and lead us into all truth. In
spite of our differences, we can be a model for what our church can look
like. I pray we can be a model of grace and respect as the Lord works
out His will in our lives and in our church.
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