The Bishop of South Carolina responds to the New Hampshire Consecration
Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20031207115328/http://www.anglicancommunioninstitute.org:80/scresponds.htm
The diocese of New Hampshire's November 2 episcopal consecration of a non-celibate man who has a male partner is an awful event for Anglicans around the world. It is against the clear teaching of the Old and New Testaments without exception that God says no to sexual activity outside Holy Matrimony. It is against the ecumenical consensus of global Christianity that while all are welcome in God's family, holiness of life can only be maintained in the two human states of singleness or marriage.
In our own worldwide Anglican family the grave consequences of this action could not have been made more clear before it was undertaken. The Lambeth Conference of Bishops in 1998 said: "No." The Anglican Consultative Council in 2002 said: "No." The regularly scheduled Primates meeting in May this year said: "No." The emergency Primates meeting in October this year said: "No." The Archbishop of Canterbury in an interview the day after the October Primates meeting said: "No."
Among our ecumenical partners, the Roman Catholic Church said "No," the Orthodox Church said, "No" and in the wider religious community the Muslims said: "No."
This is the defiant and divisive act of a deaf church. We have unilaterally and arrogantly said yes to the No of Holy Scripture, Tradition, our Anglican family and our ecumenical partners. The result of this is that the Episcopal Church has called sin righteousness. Now, as some in the liberal majority are persecuting those who maintain the historic faith, they are calling righteousness sin. We wish to express particular concern about the rising number of reports alleging the pressuring of those who disagree with the two highly publicized actions of the General Convention in places as diverse as New Hampshire and Puerto Rico.
Clearly the price to be paid for the New Hampshire consecration is and will continue to be terrible. Already, within twenty-four hours of the consecration, the Primates of the Global South, comprising approximately one half of the total number of Anglican Primates, who represent some 50 of the nearly 80 million Anglicans in the world, have declared that a state of impaired communion now exists between the majority of the provinces of the communion and the Episcopal Church USA (TEC). These leaders affirm "the ministry of bishops, clergy and laity in TEC who have, as a matter of principle, and in fidelity to the historic teaching of the Church, opposed the actions taken at General Convention and objected to the consecration." The Global South Primates in addition promise to "continue to
recognize and support their membership within the Anglican Communion fellowship and promise them our solidarity and Episcopal support."
Going beyond the Global South Primates’ action, the Province of Nigeria has broken communion with the Episcopal Church completely. Other provinces have made or are contemplating making their own serious responses. The London Times rightly editorialized recently that "the [Anglican] Church stands on the edge of a precipice-- it would not recover from the fall."
We regret this tragic outcome greatly, and confess our part in enabling it to occur with deep sorrow. Perhaps God will bring us back from the brink. We believe with God all things are possible and that even in great crisis there is great opportunity.
To that end we pledge ourselves with new devotion to the gospel of Jesus Christ and his mission to the whole world. We are excited about the new emerging North American Anglican network of confessing dioceses, parishes, and individuals which we see as a stepping stone toward a bright future. A realignment within Anglicanism is clearly beginning, and we are heading toward a new time in which Anglicans will relate to one another less through geography and territory and more through theology and personhood. The challenge before us is whether we move through this transition time responsively and creatively, or destructively. We are looking to the
Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates for their leadership and support in this vital process.
In the meantime, we are blessed that the Church in South Carolina has been a faithful part of the Anglican Communion since 1670, and we are heartened by the Primates who recognize that today we are in communion with them because our beliefs and practices conform to the Apostle’s Teaching as made known in Holy Scripture.
The Rt. Rev. Edward L. Salmon, Jr.
XIII Bishop of South Carolina
