Anglican Mainstream

From AAC

Dearly Beloved in Christ,

Many members of the Anglican Churches in the United States are increasingly weary of the protracted battles in, over, with, etc. the Episcopal Church (TEC).

Those orthodox folks remaining in TEC want to be safe from the administrative encroachment of Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori and the Executive Council, and to be free to proclaim the true Gospel without having to apologize for being Episcopalians. Those who have left TEC would like to be free from the litigation and continued conflict over their property and the lawsuits naming them personally, and to concentrate on spreading the Gospel and growing the church.

Internationally, Anglicans must be weary of the new innovations of TEC and the pronouncements emanating from TEC Headquarters in New York City. Although the most recent news has been of TEC’s decisions that all ordinations are open to all without regard to the impediments imposed by the larger Anglican Communion, and that the church can move forward in same-sex blessings, one must not lose sight of the greater but often hidden reality: TEC has been changing the very nature of belief in a Trinitarian deity, changing how the deity is referred to, dropping words such as "Lord," saying there are many ways to God and Jesus is only one, and now most recently, that the concept of a Christian having a personal relationship with God and personal certainty of salvation is HERESY! This from the Presiding Bishop herself, whose educational and intellectual depth is more in the biological sciences than Christian theology, and it shows.

The leadership of TEC is not only attacking the moral underpinnings of the Anglican Communion through the expanding "anything goes" acceptance of things formerly condemned, it is also attacking the very core beliefs of who Jesus is, what the nature of God is, and how God relates to the human race.

Bishop Mark Lawrence of the TEC Diocese of South Carolina has summed up in memorable words many of the situations that the orthodox are having to deal with: "…one by one, the Holy Scriptures, the teachings of the Church, the Anglican Communion, the Ecumenical relationships with the other bodies of the Church Catholic, and now even our own Book of Common Prayer and Constitutions & Canons are subjugated to this "new" gospel. It is a foreign vine like kudzu draping the old growth forest of Episcopalianism with decorative destruction," and "We face a multitude of false teachings, which like an intrusive vine, is threatening The Episcopal Church as we have inherited and received it from our ancestors. I have called this the false Gospel of Indiscriminate Inclusivity because I see a common pattern in how the core doctrines of our faith are being systematically deconstructed." His entire address to his clergy may be found at this link.

My hope and prayer is that those orthodox Anglicans within TEC and those orthodox Anglicans who have departed to the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) will be able to work charitably together for the good of the global communion. The orthodoxy of the entire Anglican Communion is now at stake. TEC is pressing its false gospel overseas, and trying to keep the Archbishop of Canterbury in a state of paralysis. It is time for all the orthodox Anglicans in North America, Canadians and Americans together, to work with the orthodox Anglicans represented by the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA) Primates’ Council, and with Dr. Williams if he is willing, to build a stronger, more cohesive, orthodox Anglican Communion that will be able to challenge the culture, the religion-of-the-day, and indeed Islam itself with the pure and convincing Gospel of Jesus Christ. May the Lord help us to discover our fellowship in that common goal.

Blessings and peace in Christ Jesus

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