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Resurrection Anglican Church
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News about Resurrection (check this page for updates).
The Episcopal Church of the Resurrection is now Resurrection Anglican Church. Everyone moved to the new facility and the new church on Sunday, September 9, after a final worship service in our Episcopal church building. (No one remained behind to be "reorganized by the Diocese of Chicago" as some have reported.) Directions to our new worship facilities are here. Resurrection's leaders and members worked with the Episcopal Bishop, the Canon and the Diocese of Chicago to make the transition one of loving cooperation and grace. News articles about the events are here: http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=34503 http://www.wqad.com/Global/story.asp?S=7049221&nav=1sW7 You can also just do an Internet search with "Resurrection West Chicago" and find many more related articles.We are now under the oversight of the Anglican Church of Uganda, Ankole Diocese, in Mbarara. Our bishops are George Tibeesigwa and John Guernsey. We moved to our new facility on Sunday, September 9. The new sanctuary is far larger than our previous building. It can seat 250 instead of just 100. The classrooms are all larger, and we also have new offices and a large common area. We need the space! We will remain in this new space for 3 to 4 years as we raise funds and build a new church on 13 wooded acres that we are now buying, and that God made available through a series of miraculous events. We've signed the contract to purchase land and to build a new church. Read the news and our vision for it here. He is really blessing us! Since we made the decision to leave the Episcopal Church, our commitment to the Lord and one another has deepened. We are excited about what God is doing among us! Our giving is up substantially, and we are now all focused on renewal, the chance to serve more broadly, and to reach many new people for Jesus! How much better can it get than that? God is afoot!
RECENT BACKGROUND:We left the Episcopal Church building on Sunday, September 9. We held our final worship service in the church building that we've occupied for 53 years but is owned by the Episcopal Church. We've worked diligently to make the leaving a gentle one, and to be loving toward those still in the Episcopal Church; they have responded in kind. Scott Hayashi, Canon to Bishop Persell, attended our final worship service and read a letter to us from the bishop. It was gracious. You can read it here. Our members voted March 17-25, 2007 to leave. 100% of those who voted chose to go and establish a new Anglican church. No one voted to remain in the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Chicago. No one remained behind to be "reorganized" by the Diocese. We leave sadly, but knowing that it is the right thing for us to do. We have already made sure that everything that belongs to the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection is accounted for, that all bills are paid, and no new encumbrances are created. We have decided not to buy any of the existing furniture and equipment, but will gratefully accept anything the Diocese gives us. The Diocese has given us our altar, cross and many other elements used in our worship. We are very grateful. We have asked individuals who are leaving to remove their personal belongings, and we also made an accounting of these, in order that everything is aboveboard and fully disclosed. We set a final date for worship (September 9), and cleaned the old church building head-to-toe. We will hand over keys, accounts and records to the Diocese at the end of the month, and we have departed in peace. We leave with hearts full of praise, and with full confidence in the provision of God. We have covenanted together to be the founders of a new Anglican congregation, and it is our dream to build a new church, both as the Body of Christ, and as a building where we worship Him. Pray for all of us. Pray for the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. Pray for this new adventure into which God is calling us. Though we leave the Episcopal Church and our beloved old church building, we re-gather as the Body of Christ, resurrected to new life!
The History of this Decision and Why We're Leaving:We know that the Episcopal Church believes it is led by the Holy Spirit to do "a new thing," and that it is being prophetic and courageous. We disagree on both points, profoundly, and so we cannot go with it on this new path. We believe, honestly, that by its actions and declarations it is departing from the Anglican Communion, from the authority of Scripture, and from the basics of the Christian faith as long understood. It looks like we are leaving, but we actually believe the Episcopal Church has departed, and we have been left standing in place. We face that fact plainly, and choose to maintain our place within the broader Christian community and the Anglican Communion. We will pray for return and reconciliation, but here we stand; we can do no other. The Bishop and Standing Committee of the Diocese of Chicago have said that if we leave the Episcopal Church, we leave as individuals and abandon any claim to the church buildings and property. Given all that we have invested here, financially and with our lives, this is very disappointing, but we accept it. (Recent Chicago Tribune article about this is here. Daily Herald article from March 14, 2007 is here. This article includes some quotes that were trimmed out of the printed version of the newspaper, particularly about polygamy. Interview with Pastor George on Sandy Rios' radio program, March 20, is here — about 55 minutes.) It looks like Resurrection is leaving the Episcopal Church, but that is the same kind of illusion experienced while sitting on a stationary train as another pulls away. It feels like you're moving, but you aren't. We believe that we are being true to the core beliefs of the Christian faith and the Anglican Communion, and that the Episcopal Church has departed from them. It is leaving. We are not. Therefore, in conscience, on December 12, 2006, the Vestry of Resurrection voted to begin negotiations with the Diocese of Chicago to disassociate from the Episcopal Church and seek other Anglican oversight. It was a difficult and agonizing decision, but we believe it was right and necessary. June 2006: To read the background of what made it necessary, click here: The Future of the Episcopal Church following General Convention 2006 and also Where Do We Stand on Gay Clergy? December 17: A letter was sent to the Bishop of Chicago and the Standing Committee (the Vestry of the Diocese) asking to be allowed to present proposals to them on how to separate in a grace-filled manner. The text of that letter can be found by clicking here. December 26: Following the letter to the Bishop, Pastor George talked to him again, and he asked that we put our full request in writing for his review. That request can be read by clicking here. The full request was also sent by the Bishop to the six members of the Standing Committee. For what it is worth, discussions on this topic of separation between the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, and the impact on Resurrection, have been underway between us and the Bishop since 2003, although we struggled to avoid the need by working within, praying and calling the Episcopal Church not to walk apart. When the Episcopal Church made clear its intention to do so in June of 2006, this was followed by a quiet but serious meeting with the Bishop in September of 2006, and then the formal letter of December 17, noted above. January 17, 2007: The Bishop and Standing Committee responded in a letter dated January 17. Their letter can be read by clicking here. The tone of their reply was gracious and hopeful. The Bishop also called to let us know this letter was on its way, and his tone also was gracious. In this letter, they asked if they could come to Resurrection and worship and meet with us. Our positive reply, suggesting a date, is here. February 1: The Standing Committee and Bishop Persell came to Resurrection for worship and a meeting with us. Following this, we sent a letter to them summarizing our meeting. This is an important letter, because it sets forth a different approach to this whole crisis than we have seen in most places. In it we said, among other things, "We believe the best outcome would be a mutually kind settlement, that what we agree to in this way in Chicago could be a model of how Christians treat each other even in deep disagreement, and that this could stand as an alternative to the fury which seems to have engulfed the church elsewhere." Please do read the entire text. It can be read here. February 4: Pastor George's Sunday-morning sermon is a complete summary of the Standing Committee meeting, and a key to the Scriptures that MUST inform our actions and decision-making. Click here to listen to it. About 26 minutes. February 13: The Standing Committee met and wrote us a letter, which arrived on Tuesday, the 20th, but we did not post it until it had been shared with the congregation on Sunday, February 25. As interested as we know many people were about its contents, it is a matter at the heart of our identity and future at Resurrection. We needed to deal with it here at home, and then share it more widely.
February 25: the end of this chapter: Response from the Bishop and Standing Committee to our request. (It is a "no," by the way.) After the "no" from the Bishop
and Standing Committee, what will we do? This
put an important period on this chapter of our life together. We have hope, even
joy. We believe God is doing a great thing among us. Listen to the
extended review of our journey and struggle, and to the vision for our future —
the Sunday sermon from February 25, 2007: We Are the Church, and This
Church Will Rise Again! February 26: Our reply letter to Bishop and Standing Committee following their letter to us and our Sunday worship service. Read it here. February 28: Lastly, their answer to our reply. Really quite gracious.
Resurrection's own resources for the crisis: Where do we stand on gay clergy? A brief statement of Resurrection's position in this debate. By the way, though gay clergy and same-sex marriages seem to be the focus of most of the media attention, we see them only as symptoms of a mistaken understanding of scripture, and the departure from the normative understandings of the church throughout history. For a fuller statement, read Sex Overtakes the Church (Where Resurrection stands: a careful look at Gay bishops, sexual variety, Scripture and related controversy. Long and thorough, with links.) The Future of the Episcopal Church following General Convention 2006. Also cited above.
Pastor George's Talk to the Convention of the Diocese of Chicago on November 11,
2005 (about 17 minutes)
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