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Reform Groups (orthodox) within the Episcopal Church
Quotations:
 | "Today, there are two religions in the Episcopal Church. One remains
faithful to the biblical truth and received teachings of the Church, while the
other rejects them...Radical activists seek to replace biblical truth and
godly morality with secular humanism and moral relativism. We have become a
church which contradicts our own teaching."
Concerned Clergy and Laity of the Episcopal Church. 2 |
| "...Christ's true doctrine, discipline, and worship is "received" by
the Church, not created by the Church. It is to be guarded and honored, not
experimented with." The First Promise.
3 |
Overview:
The Episcopal Church in the United States, the Anglican Church
in Canada, the Church of England in Britain, and 35 other national
churches elsewhere in the world comprise the Anglican Communion. Combined
membership is approximately 76 million. This includes about 4% of all
Christians. Each national church, called a "province," has wide powers of
self-government. They meet every decade in England at the Lambeth Conference to
reach general agreement on basic matters of faith and social policy.
Recent decades have seen serious stresses within the Episcopal Church and the
rest of Anglican communion. Most have involved rapid change in sexual matters:
| Whether women should be considered for ordination as priests. |
| Whether women should be considered for consecration as bishops. |
| Whether women should have access to abortion services. |
| Whether non-celibate gays and lesbians should be permitted as clergy. |
| Whether the unions of homosexual couples should be recognized. |
| Whether unions of unmarried, heterosexual couples should be recognized |
As of 2000-SEP, the Episcopal Church allows female clergy in most of its
provinces. There are some women bishops. The church acknowledges the legal right
of abortion access for women. Non-celibate homosexuals are officially refused
ordination. Union rituals recognizing the commitment of gay and lesbian couples
or of unmarried heterosexual couples are not permitted. A few clergy have
violated church policy; they have ordained sexually active gays and lesbians;
they have performed union ceremonies.
The main reform/renewal groups:
A liberal/conservative split is a found in many liberal and mainline
Protestant denominations. The Episcopal Church is no exception. The
administration and some of the clergy and laity tend to hold liberal views on
theology and social matters. Various reform/renewal groups, made up of some
clergy and laity, hold more traditional, conservative views. The major
conservative renewal groups are:
| American Anglican Council (AAC)
1 They promote the creation of a parallel Anglican
organization to cover all of the United States. If current trends continue,
there will eventually be, in effect, two Anglican churches in the country: one
conservative and the other mainline/liberal. |
| Concerned Clergy and Laity of the Episcopal
Church (CCLEC) 2 They feel that the Church
has embraced secular
Humanism,
Neopaganism, apostasy, and blasphemy. They have called on:
 | Bishops to support what they consider to be "faithful orthodox
priests and parishes in revisionist dioceses." |
| Elimination of economic support for all liberal church programs. |
|
| Episcopalians United: Their
mission is: "To mobilize the laity to accomplish constructive change in the
structure and ministry of the Church -- Change that is faithful to Scripture,
Tradition and the Lordship of Jesus Christ." Their strategy involves:
"Networking [with] concerned individuals and groups, providing educational
resources, encouraging spiritual growth, and influencing decisions of the
Church -- all through concerted prayer, Bible study, seminars and conferences,
publications, and the work of local chapters." 9 |
| The Ekklesia Society: This is
an international society with many members in the U.S. They are concerned
that: "In the US...a significant number of bishops and other leaders
continue to promote an agenda contrary to the faith we have received. There
are strident departures from Biblical sexual norms, and even the worship of
other gods. The pain of the situation is most acute where Biblically faithful
churches are fighting for life in dioceses under a bishop who teaches or
promotes things outside the faith. It is important for us to be linked with
those congregations to encourage and support them. Ekklesia provides a
mechanism to link those who are like minded, and builds cooperation for
mission, evangelism, and development." 11 |
| The First Promise movement has
accumulated over 300 signatories to a reform statement that they have
prepared. They feel that "Ecclesiastical authority... is not absolute in
itself but is accountable to Scripture, Tradition, and Reason...[The Episcopal
Church] has repeatedly and unrepentantly departed from the doctrine,
discipline and worship of Christ as this Church has received them. Therefore,
to continue to support such an organization, or to continue to associate with
it as if we were still equally yoked, would be a violation of sincere vows,
solemnly taken." 3,4 |
| Forward in Faith, North America
is affiliated with Forward in Faith -- an Church of England
group which was "unable to accept the ordination of women to the
priesthood." 5 |
| The Prayer Book Society of the Episcopal
Church: This group promotes "the Anglican tradition of
common prayer and ...the use and understanding of the traditional books of
common prayer." They regard 1928 Book of Common Prayer (BCP) to be "the
last genuine book of common prayer in America." 8 They
regard the 1979 BCP to be a fake, having been misrepresented as a genuine BCP
by the "Episcopal church in a period of unprecedented arrogance during the
1970s." 8 |
| Scholarly Engagement with Anglican Doctrine,
(SEAD) is a group composed mainly of conservative Anglican academics. They
feel that "Historic Anglicanism contains a remarkable tradition of godly
scholarship, learned debate, creative thought and enriching diversity. In our
own age this tradition is in jeopardy. Many thoughtful Episcopalians find
theology politicized, biblical teaching marginalized, diversity ---and
consequently creativity, scholarship and depth of theological reflection---
impoverished." They hope to reverse these trends. 12 |
References
- "American Anglican Council, at
http://www.episcopalian.org/aac/
They can be contacted at:
| Postal address: P.O. Box 180159, Dallas, TX 75218-0159 |
| Phone: (800) 914-2000 or (214) 319-8816 |
| FAX: (214) 319-8864 |
| E-mail: Anglican@ix.netcom.com |
Concerned Clergy and Laity of the Episcopal Church (CCLEC) at:
http://www.episcopalian.org/cclec/ They can be contacted at:
The First Promise, at:
http://www.firstpromise.org/ They can be contacted at:
The full text of The First Promise Document is at:
http://www.firstpromise.org/fpdoc.htm
Forward in Faith, North America is at:
http://fifamerica.faithweb.com/
They can be contacted at:
"The Primates step forward," at:
http://fifamerica.faithweb.com/FOUNDATIONS/
The Prayer Book Society of the Episcopal Church is at:
http://www.episcopalian.org/pbs1928/index.htm They can be contacted at:
Peter Toon, article concerning the 1979 "fake" BCP at:
http://www.episcopalian.org/pbs1928/fakebcp.htm
Episcopalians United are at:
http://www.episcopalian.org/EU/
They can be contacted at:
| Postal address: Episcopalians United, P.O. Box 797425, Dallas, TX 75379 |
| Phone: (972) 381-7374 |
| FAX: (972) 381-7351 |
| E-mail:
EUnited@worldnet.att.net |
D.W. Gomez "A circular letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the
other primates of the Anglican Communion," at:
http://www.ekk.org/nassau.htm
"Ekklesia Society," at:
http://www.ekk.org/index1.htm
Scholarly Engagement with Anglican Doctrine at:
http://www.stmatts.com/sead/ They
can be contacted at:
| Postal address: SEAD, 126 Coming St., Charleston SC, 29403 |
| Phone: (843) 224-9161 |
| FAX: ( |
| E-mail: SEADHarvest@aol.com |
from:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/div_epis.htm
|
Love
God, neighbor and enemy. 