Communion Partners Formed: Statement of Participating Rectors

Date of publication
Communion Partner Rectors

As a fellowship of Communion Partner Rectors, we welcome and support the release of the Communion Partner Bishops' Statement.  As this initiative moved forward, we felt it crucial to have the support of a growing group of rectors from Episcopal parishes throughout the United States and we will form a counterpart to Partner Bishops and Partner Primates.  We believe it important that we are a broad partnership, extended across dioceses of various levels of Communion commitment.

We pledge our prayers and support to one another and to the Bishops and Primates working together to form a clear Communion identity within the Episcopal Church.  We are excited and very encouraged by the mission and Gospel commitments of the wider Communion and hope to bring that reality into our parishes in whatever form is available and acceptable to the people, and the Bishops, we serve.  We are clearly committed to working within the charitable guidelines of the released Communion Partner Bishops Statement.

We appreciate the serious challenges of this present season in our greater Communion and The Episcopal Church, and we understand that for some conservative constituents, another path may have been chosen.  But we pledge our prayers, our concern and hope that the Partners Plan will be a movement of keen Communion allegiance both within the Episcopal Church and the greater Anglican Communion at a time when the Episcopal Church (USA) will be considering its role within the wider Communion.  In brief, we are a group of rectors who share a common commitment to the authority and traditional interpretation of Holy Scripture, the creedal and historic faith, orthodox theology with an evangelical fervor to faithfully live and preach the Good News of Jesus Christ.  We are also firmly committed to remain in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, respecting and honoring the proper authority of our Bishops and working in concert with them to strengthen our voice within the Church.

We wish to be on record in our enthusiasm for the Windsor and Covenant way forward, as the best means to extend and further the Communion as God has thus far blessed it throughout the world.  We will announce forthcoming visits of Partner Primates and Partner Bishops as we complete our plans for their visits, and we will soon promote a gathering of Partner Rectors, Bishops and Archbishops as these arrangements are solidified.  For more information or to become a Partner Rector, please contact us via CPRectors@stmartinsepiscopal.org.

We are mindful of our Lord's desire and prayer that all who follow Him would be "one," (John 17:21) and His affirmation within that same prayer that His followers be ".brought to complete unity to let the world know that You have sent me, and have loved them even as You have loved me," (17:23).  We believe this imperative for unity, nor our Lord's prayer, is not limited to simply the members of the parishes we serve, a Diocese or even a Province, but to the whole of our Anglican Communion, and even more so, the entire Body of Believers.  We believe the Partners initiative to be a faithful piece of this unity and will be a building block toward establishing stronger relationships with one another and all those who follow Christ.  Toward that ultimate end, we remain;



The Reverend Dr. Russell J. Levenson, Jr.
Rector
Communion Partners Representative
on behalf of, the Communion Partner Rectors, (to date):


The Reverend Dr. Russell J. Levenson, Jr.
Partner Rector Representative
St. Martin's Episcopal Church,
Houston, Texas


The Reverend Dr. Charles Alley
Rector, St. Matthew's Episcopal Church
Richmond, Virginia


The Reverend Keith Brooks
Rector, Church of the Transfiguration
Vail, Colorado


The Right Reverend Tony Burton
Rector, Church of The Incarnation
Dallas, Texas


The Very Reverend Anthony Clark
Dean, St. Luke's Cathedral
Orlando, Florida


The Reverend Frank Fuller
Rector, St. Mark's Episcopal Church
Beaumont, Texas


The Reverend Ronald Greiser, Jr.
Rector, St. John's Episcopal Church
Portsmouth, Virginia


The Reverend Laurens A. Hall
Rector, St. John the Divine
Houston, Texas


The Reverend Charles Holt
Rector, St. Peter's Episcopal Church
Lake Mary, Florida


The Reverend Thomas Hotchkiss
Rector, Church of The Advent
Nashville, Tennessee


The Reverend John S. Liebler
Rector, St. Andrew's Church and Academy
Fort Pierce, Florida


The Reverend Gregg Riley
Rector, Grace Episcopal Church
Monroe, Louisiana


The Reverend Mark Seitz
Rector, St. Matthew's Episcopal Church
Wheeling, West Virginia


The Reverend Leigh Spruill
Rector, St. George's Episcopal Church
Nashville, Tennessee


The Reverend Guido Verbeck
Rector, St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Shreveport, Louisiana


The Reverend Stockton Williams
Rector, St. Peter's Episcopal Church
Kerrville, Texas


The Reverend Michael Wycoff
Rector, St. Luke's on the Lake
Austin, Texas