A Letter to the Bishops of the Episcopal Church 2015

A Letter to the Bishops of the Episcopal Church

9 March 2015

Dear Bishops,

We have watched developments over the past years. We are loyal members of this Church. We have long-serving family members in this Church. We have known this Church over several generations. We are watching the precipitous decline in attendance in the Episcopal Church. Current proposals to restructure the church are ignoring basic problems.¹

We are frankly concerned. As loyal Episcopal priests, we put this question to you:

"Is this any longer a Church one wants to join?"

We are looking at a Church in which the following are facts or likely outcomes in the very near term:

• A proposed modification of the Book of Common Prayer Marriage Rite wherein the rubrics are malleable and the Biblical and canonical warrants² are ignored or abandoned;
• The BCP definition of marriage is subverted without constitutional procedure;³
• Tens of millions of dollars, perhaps over $40 million, have been spent on litigation without any budget line accountability;⁴
• The rewriting of the Title IV canon gives the Presiding Bishop metropolitical authority vis-à-vis fellow Bishops, against the Constitution's plain sense;⁵
• Bishops are disciplined for filing an amicus brief while other bishops and leaders file them with impunity with SCOTUS;⁶
• Bishops are declared to have renounced their Orders without ever doing so in the manner called for by canon;⁷
• The ‘National Church,’ when it is urged by GC to move its offices, simply ignores the recommendation;⁸ and
• Mandatory Diocesan giving is called for without any constitutional authority;⁹

This list is incomplete, but it is sufficient to indicate the state of lawlessness into which we have moved, and to pose the questions: Are we any longer a Church of constitutional and canonical order? Are we acting decently and in order? How can we hope to restore a level of trust across differences of theological conviction when the good order that this Church constitutionally and canonically expects is simply ignored?¹⁰

• If the BCP is to be changed, let it be done in accordance with the rules established to do that.
• If money is being spent on litigation, let there be a public accounting of that.
• If the Presiding Bishop is to be given new authorities, let the Constitution be altered in the manner required.
• If it is not proper to file an amicus brief in one case, then it is not proper to file one in another case.
• If Bishops are declared to have renounced their Orders, let it happen in the manner called for by the Constitution and Canons.
• If we are uncertain, how can we assure the members of the church and those who are seeking a church home?

It seems to us that these are reasonable and fair requests to put before the Bishops of this church, who have solemnly vowed before God that they will “guard the faith, unity, and discipline of the Church” (BCP, page 518).

Faithfully in our Lord,

The Rev’d Dr. Chuck Alley, Richmond, Virginia

The Rev’d Frank Fuller, Corpus Christi, Texas

The Rev’d John Newton, St. Paul, Minnesota

The Rev’d Paul Minor, Belmont, Massachusetts

The Rev’d Cheryl Minor, Belmont, Massachusetts

The Rev’d Dr. Ephraim Radner, Diocese of Colorado, Professor at Wycliffe, Toronto

The Rev’d Canon Dr. Chris Seitz, Dallas, Texas

The Rev’d Dr. Philip Turner, Austin, Texas

The Rev’d Stockton Williams, Kerrville, Texas