Virigina minister writes to congregation

Yesterday we sent an announcement about this week’s upcoming activities celebrating and exploring our many Outreach ministries - it’s called Week for the World. It’s exciting to contemplate the scores of ministries in which we’re involved. However, yesterday’s announcement by the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, that he considers us “to have abandoned our church,” reminds us of the other crucially important mission in which we are engaged, and that is our mission to maintain our witness as an historic church that is in the Anglican tradition, true to scripture and true to our Reformation heritage. We have the great privilege to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and sacrificially serve him to extend the mighty reign of God. While the announcement by Bishop Lee was not unexpected, the letter he wrote and the claims he makes are extremely disappointing to me, especially after the efforts of the last year to build consensus around a negotiated settlement plan for churches departing the Diocese. It is only as I reflect on our fundamental disagreements about the meaning of truth, authority, the nature of the church itself, and Christian orthodoxy, that I can make sense of his position. I hope you will read his letter below, and form your own opinions. In addition, I would like to clarify just a few questions raised by this announcement. Read more