Pastor's Letter

August 7th, 2003

Dear Friends and Members of The Church of the Apostles:

I want to affirm for you our commitment to Holy Scripture and to the Anglican Communion. At the Church of the Apostles we are Biblical, Sacramental, and growing in the Spirit, and will remain so.

On Tuesday, August 5th, 2003 our bishop and 18 others made the following statement to the house of Bishops:

"The bishops who stand before you are filled with sorrow. This body, in willfully confirming the election of a person sexually active outside of holy matrimony, has departed from the historic faith and order of the Church of Jesus Christ. This body has denied the plain teaching of Scripture and the moral consensus of the Church throughout the ages. This body has divided itself from millions of Anglican Christians around the world, brothers and sisters who have pleaded with us to maintain the Church's traditional teaching on marriage and sexuality.

"With grief too deep for words, the bishops who stand before you must reject this action of the 74th General Convention of the Episcopal Church. As faithful Episcopalians and members of this house, we are calling upon the Primates of the Anglican Communion, under the presidency of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and in accordance with Lambeth Resolution III.6 (b), to intervene in the pastoral emergency that has overtaken us.

In a phone conversation with Bishop Stanton this morning he made clear the following points.

1. There is already strong support being expressed to him and other faithful American Bishops by the bishops in the Anglican Communion and a meeting of the Primates of the Anglican Communion has already been scheduled to respond to this situation. This has significantly impacted the unity of the National Episcopal Church but there will be an ongoing process as things sort themselves out.

2. Each vestry in the diocese now has the right to determine whether or not the percentage of funds that previously went to the National Church will still go to the National Church or to the support of a mission organization.

Our vestry will be asked to make that determination. My recommendation is that we use the percentage of money that would have gone to the National Church for the support of mission outreach.

The Anglican Communion will not assent to the consecration of an active homosexual as a bishop because it is against both Holy Scripture and our historic Faith and Order. We do need know what the response of the Anglican Communion to the present crisis will be before we can realistically assess the future and unity of the Episcopal Church. My intention is that I, and the Church of the Apostles, maintain obedience to Holy Scripture and unity with the Anglican Communion.

Do not act precipitously, but reaffirm your own commitment to our Lord, to Holy Scripture, to the Anglican Communion and to the Church of the Apostles, as we, along with our bishop, work through these issues for the future of the faithful in the Church.

I want to express my own commitment and support for Bishop Stanton in these troubled times. I am very glad that we have a bishop that can be counted on to obey God's word and stand firmly within the tradition of the Anglican Communion.

The issue is complex and the future uncertain, but the Word of God endures forever. Please do know that I intend to remain faithful to Holy Scripture and to the Lord of Scripture.

Faithfully,

The Rev. Dr. Rob Smith + Obl. OSB

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