A Report to the Congregation

From the Rector and Vestry of Christ Episcopal Church (San Antonio, TX)

September 2006

Introduction

We begin by affirming that which binds us together in Christian community at Christ Church.

We love God. He is the answer to our heart’s deepest longings. He is eternal and the answer to our longing for permanence. He is infinite and the answer to our longing for completeness. He is unchanging and the answer to our longing for a sure foundation to build our lives on. He is love and the answer to our longing for meaning and purpose. The first affirmation of our Christ Church Core Values states: We center our faith and worship on the fullest revelation of God in his Son Jesus Christ, and we acknowledge his “headship” over our church.

We also believe that the God we worship is the God who speaks. He plainly reveals what we need to know about his character and his plan and purpose for our lives so that we will know the way to everlasting life. He speaks in many ways, but principally and most completely through the Bible. We recognize truths to be taught by the Holy Spirit when they are in accord with the Holy Scriptures. In our Core Values we state: We receive the Bible as God’s inspired Word and our ultimate authority.

We are Christians first and Anglicans/Episcopalians second, but we are happy to call the Anglican Communion our home. We believe in orthodox, biblical Christianity that is the basis of the historic faith of the Anglican Communion. We state in our Core Values: We locate our identity with the worldwide Anglican Communion and the Protestant tradition of the Episcopal Church as expressed in the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, the historic creeds, and The Articles of Religion.

Why is our “Anglican” connection important?

Simply put, the Episcopal Church is the Anglican Church in the United States. It was the only Anglican Church here (related to Canterbury) until 2000 when the churches of the Anglican Mission in America left the Episcopal Church. AMiA Churches are connected to the Archbishop of Canterbury through the Province of Rwanda Africa. Since the General Convention of 2003 some 250 other Episcopal Churches have left the U.S. Province to become affiliated with the Anglican Communion through various overseas Provinces. It’s obvious that we are having to think differently today about what it means to be “Anglican” in America.

The problem for those of us who are still in the Episcopal Church and waiting on our bishops to guide us, is that up until a few years ago, the Episcopal Church was clearly committed by history, theology and polity to the Anglican Communion. The founding fathers of the Episcopal Church in 1789 were clear that the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America (our official title) is continuous in tradition and theology with the Church of England, and before that to the catholic church through the ages. For this reason we are accountable to the wider Communion and are not permitted to act independently or in such a way that our actions hurt the other members of our Anglican family. The Windsor Report reminds us of the ancient canonical principle that, “what touches all should be decided by all.” The opening words of our Constitution and Canons states that the Episcopal Church is a “constituent member of the Anglican Communion,” which means that we are essentially tied to the English Reformation, the Prayer Book tradition and to other Anglican churches and Provinces around the world.

The Episcopal Church is one of 38 Provinces that makes up the worldwide Anglican Communion. In fact, Anglicans in America (Episcopalians) make up only a tiny percentage of Anglicans worldwide. Each province is led by a Primate, also called Presiding Bishop or Archbishop. Our Presiding Bishop was elected by the House of Bishops and confirmed by the House of Deputies at a General Convention.

The spiritual head of the Anglican Communion is the Archbishop of Canterbury. According to the Windsor Report, the leadership of the Communion is shared by four “Instruments of Unity.” Our unity is found, not on the Instruments of Unity as some say, but on the “substance of the Faith” (Prayer Book, p. 9) of which these Instruments of Unity are sworn to uphold and protect:

The Archbishop of Canterbury (Rowan Williams)

The Primates, who meet periodically (next in February 2007)

Lambeth Conferences, bishops from around the world meet every ten years at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury (next in 2008)

The Anglican Consultative Council, composed of representatives from around the world, meets once a year

The present state of the church

It is because of our core beliefs and our understanding of the Anglican Communion that we are deeply grieved by the present state of the Episcopal Church in the United States. As Bishop MacNaughton prophetically wrote in The Living Church articles in 1994-95, and what is now very apparent, there are two churches under the one roof of the Episcopal Church. One church is “progressive” in claiming that Holy Scripture is too confining and that God has revealed new truths that allow us to move beyond the strictures of the Bible. The other church is “catholic” and “apostolic,” and finds its identity in the permanence and enduring truth of the Bible and the historic faith of the church. One church leads the way in Anglican Communion innovation. The other is submitted to the common mind of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

There is no common agreement about foundational truths or understanding of authority between the two churches. We are forced to conclude, therefore, that the separation we now experience is irreversible. Neither church will be willing to give up their core beliefs and values. It’s unrealistic to believe that the progressive church or the traditional church will ever give up their respective positions on authority or human sexuality.

The formal cause of the crisis before us is the decision of the 2003 General Convention to consent to the ordination of an openly gay man to be bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire. This was against the teaching of Scripture and tradition, and against the strong warnings of the leaders of the Anglican Communion. Sexuality, however, is only the presenting issue; the real issue is whether or not the Bible is still relevant and our primary authority.

The separation has been many decades in coming, traceable back to the Bishop Pike controversy in the 1960’s, the “death of God” movement and the liberal push of most Episcopal seminaries in recent years and the clergy they’ve graduated, the uncontested writings of such leaders as Bishop Spong that dismiss the fundamental teachings of Christianity, and the Righter trial in 1996 that declared the Episcopal Church has no core doctrine regarding human sexuality. Jesus said, “no house divided against itself will stand” (Matthew 12). The majority of Episcopal bishops, and lay and clergy leaders (according to the record of recent General Conventions) are settled on a trajectory that is against traditional Anglican core values. We’ve elected a new Presiding Bishop who stands for what the Windsor Report asks us to repudiate. And we’ve just learned that Presiding Bishop Schori will not be welcome or recognized as a Primate when the other Primates meet, according to the statement of the Primates of the Global South (meeting September 22, 2006). When the Episcopal Church walked away from the Anglican Communion, it walked away from Christ Church San Antonio and from the values we have declared to be our “core values.”

What Anglicans/Episcopalians have traditionally believed

Bible

The Word of God will stand forever (Isaiah 40).

Called the “substance of the Faith” and “doctrine” (Prayer Book, p. 9).

God “caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning” (p. 236, 868).

Holy Scripture is the Word of God that contains all things necessary to salvation (p. 513).

“We recognize truths to be taught by the Holy Spirit when they are in accord with the Scriptures” (p. 853).

We “do have a distinctive historic tradition, a reformed commitment to the absolute priority of the Bible…” (Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury).

Human sexuality

A man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh (Genesis 2, Matthew 19).

“The bond and covenant of marriage was established by God in creation…the union of husband and wife in heart, body, and mind is intended by God for their mutual joy…” (Prayer Book, p. 423)

This Conference…in view of the teaching of Scripture, upholds faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in lifelong union, and believes that abstinence is right for those who are not called to marriage… [and] rejects homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture. (1998 Lambeth Conference, Resolution 1:10, passed by vote of 526 to 70)

Primates Communiqué (Dromatine) meeting February 2005, reaffirmed 1998 Lambeth 1.10 as the present position of the Anglican Communion, and “we pledge ourselves afresh to that resolution in its entirety.”

What Christ Church has done to respond

After 2003 General Convention

Vestry voted to withhold those funds that would have gone to the national church (the diocese subsequently came to the same conclusion).

Vestry statement disassociating ourselves from the actions of the 2003 GC.

Vestry voted for Christ Church to become an affiliated member of the American Anglican Council.

After General Convention 2006

Vestry letter to Bishop Lillibridge and the Standing Committee.

Vestry voted to become an affiliated member of the Anglican Communion Network.

Where we are today

In the letter sent to Bishop Lillibridge (July 26, 2006), our clergy and vestry stated that we have had enough of the revisionist agenda of the Episcopal Church. It has become an embarrassment to explain to people that Christ Church is different from the national church and many other Episcopal Churches that teach a permissive sexual ethic, discount the uniqueness of Jesus Christ, and have abandoned the traditional Trinitarian understanding of God. We expressed to Bishop Lillibridge our concern that the governing entities of the Episcopal Church have led us to depart from the Anglican Communion, and it appears on all accounts that they are stubbornly unwilling to return to the faith and practice of the wider Church. We declared our intent to disassociate from the Episcopal Church “when the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates offer us an acceptable option.” We said this fully aware that the Archbishop and Primates have not yet provided a way for us to be “Anglican” apart from the Episcopal Church. But we believe they soon will. The Primates of the Global South (representing 20 of the 38 Provinces and more than 70% of the membership of the Anglican Communion) just this week issued a statement that includes, “The time has now come to take initial steps towards the formation of what will be recognized as a separate ecclesiastical structure of the Anglican Communion in the USA.” No one knows what this will look like or how it will be structured. But there’s no question that Christ Church is now at odds with the Episcopal Church and we will distance ourselves further until and unless the Episcopal Church turns around to embrace that which has always defined Anglicanism.

In the same letter we thanked our bishop for his full and unqualified support for the Windsor Report and the Windsor process of realignment. Also, in the letter and in subsequent exchanges of letters, emails and private conversations we have repeatedly said that we are fully committed to our bishop and diocese and have no plans to leave. We have confidence in our bishop because of his full support for Windsor, and his leadership among Windsor bishops. Bishop Lillibridge stated at our parish meeting July 16, 2006 that he loves the Episcopal Church and has not given up hope for its reform, but his first loyalty is to the Archbishop of Canterbury and for the Diocese of West Texas to remain a constituent member of the Anglican Communion. He again endorsed this view with his support for the Camp Allen Windsor Bishop’s letter to the House of Bishops (September 22, 2006). We are happy to walk in partnership with our bishop and diocese because of our shared commitment to the Windsor Report and the Windsor process.

If the Episcopal Church were to wake up and admit its mistakes, repent of its divisive actions, and return to the faith and unity of the church of God, Christ Church would be 100% on board and totally willing to reinvest. We are not asking for total agreement on all matters, only on those matters of authority, doctrine and ethics that the Prayer Book calls “the substance of the Faith.” However, at the present time there is no indication that the Episcopal Church is willing to recognize that it has done anything wrong, much less change its direction. While the Episcopal Church continues to hold to its course, we at Christ Church are equally determined to strengthen our connections to the other parts of the Anglican Communion. We don’t consider our actions as leaving the Episcopal Church; the Episcopal Church has left us and we will stay where the values of historic Anglicanism are upheld.

In the meantime, as we wait for our bishop to lead us and discern a way forward for the churches of the Diocese of West Texas, we continue to worship, teach, pray and reach out in love to a hurting world with renewed commitment to the mission of Christ Church to “proclaim, embody and extend Christ’s reign in the world.” After Jesus Christ (the Great Commandment), our next commitment is to the Great Commission. This is our passion and lifeblood. We are a “gospel church” and not an “issue church,” which means that we will not be diverted from our everyday gospel ministries by the negativity of the crisis that surrounds our national church. The message of God’s love, repentance and amendment of life is too important. We acknowledge our sinfulness before God as we welcome all sinners who are looking for God’s solution for the guilt they have. “To those who are joyful and wish to celebrate; to all who are weary and need rest; to all who seek God’s desire for their lives; to all who are hurting and need comfort; to all who are looking for an encouraging church family of imperfect fellow-strugglers…We open wide our doors to you in the name of Jesus Christ.”

Vestry and Clergy Letter following General Convention 2006

(July 26, 2006)

Dear Bishop Lillibridge,

The Vestry of Christ Church met last night to discuss our current situation in light of General Convention 2006. We have had several meetings for this purpose.

In a unanimous vote, the clergy and vestry of Christ Church and Christ Church in the Hill Country affirm our commitment to Jesus Christ, to the authority of Holy Scripture, and to that which binds us to our Anglican heritage. As a consequence, when the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates offer us an acceptable option, we will disassociate from the Episcopal Church. We feel that we must do this because we believe The Episcopal Church has left the Anglican Communion, and us, and now no longer lives under the authority of the Bible. It is our firm intent to continue our membership in the Anglican Communion and in covenant relationship with the Archbishop of Canterbury with constituent member status. We sincerely hope that we can do this with the support and in partnership with our diocese.

We thank you for publicly and strongly standing against the actions and inactions of the 75^th General Convention of The Episcopal Church. We are grateful for your determination to be a Windsor Bishop and for the Diocese of West Texas to be a Windsor Diocese. We believe that in recent years and decades The Episcopal Church has departed from biblical truth and the historic faith of Anglicanism. At the Columbus General Convention The Episcopal Church failed to address the recommendations and requirements of the Windsor Report. It is apparent that The Episcopal Church has abandoned the wider church, further breaking the “bonds of affection” that define our participation in the Anglican Communion.

We respectfully request that you and the Standing Committee of the Diocese of West Texas, according to the provisions of the Windsor Report and in partnership with other dioceses, lead us toward alternate primatial oversight as the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates of the Anglican Communion provide a means for this to happen. This would be a drastic measure for our diocese, but one that is certainly justified in the light of recent actions of the General Convention and the disdain shown the Windsor Report.

We assure you, the congregation of Christ Church and Christ Church in the Hill Country, and our friends in San Antonio and throughout the diocese that we will continue to worship, teach, pray, and reach out in love to a hurting world as we have in the past, and with renewed commitment to the mission of Christ Church to “proclaim, embody and extend Christ’s reign in the world.”

We thank God for you as our bishop, and we pray for you, Catherine and your children during these trying times.

Respectfully yours,

The Rector, Assistant Rectors and Vestry of Christ Episcopal Church

1998 Lambeth Resolution 1.10 (the official position of the Anglican Communion)

This Conference:

commends to the Church the subsection report on human sexuality;
in view of the teaching of Scripture, upholds faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in lifelong union, and believes that abstinence is right for those who are not called to marriage;
recognises that there are among us persons who experience themselves as having a homosexual orientation. Many of these are members of the Church and are seeking the pastoral care, moral direction of the Church, and God's transforming power for the living of their lives and the ordering of relationships. We commit ourselves to listen to the experience of homosexual persons and we wish to assure them that they are loved by God and that all baptised, believing and faithful persons, regardless of sexual orientation, are full members of the Body of Christ;
while rejecting homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture, calls on all our people to minister pastorally and sensitively to all irrespective of sexual orientation and to condemn irrational fear of homosexuals, violence within marriage and any trivialisation and commercialisation of sex;
cannot advise the legitimising or blessing of same sex unions nor ordaining those involved in same gender unions;
requests the Primates and the ACC to establish a means of monitoring the work done on the subject of human sexuality in the Communion and to share statements and resources among us;
notes the significance of the Kuala Lumpur Statement on Human Sexuality and the concerns expressed in resolutions IV.26, V.1, V.10, V.23 and V.35 on the authority of Scripture in matters of marriage and sexuality and asks the Primates and the ACC to include them in their monitoring process.

[Christ Church San Antonio] Our Mission is to proclaim, embody and extend Christ’s reign in the world.

CORE VALUES

Christ-centered

We center our faith and worship on the fullest revelation of God in his Son Jesus Christ, and we acknowledge his “headship” over our church.

Spirit-filled

We seek to live in the strength, power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit.

Bible based

We receive the Bible as God’s inspired Word and our ultimate authority.

Caring

We are a welcoming, open and deeply relational community seeking to love one another as Christ loves us.

Outward-looking

We seek to share the unchanging Gospel in culturally relevant ways, directing our resources outwardly to reach a hurting world for Christ.

Leaders

We are a congregation of leaders committed to finding, training and releasing new generations of Christian leaders.

Anglican

We locate our identity with the worldwide Anglican Communion and the Protestant tradition of the Episcopal Church as expressed in the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, the historic creeds, and the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion.