Thinking about the upcoming General Convention

From the Rector's Report of the June Eagle
Every three years I dread being a member of the Episcopal Church of the United States. Dread, because every three years the National Church meets in its Convention. Since the year I left for seminary in 1991 I have feared not only the results of the decisions made at this national Church gathering, but also the accompanying press coverage of the convention. It is every three years that we become “Yeah, but…” Episcopalians. “Yeah, but…” Episcopalians are those of us who, being confronted by neighbors and family members who have read or heard the news reports about the events of the General Convention ask us if these things are actually true. We then answer, “Yeah, but…” as in “Yeah, but in our parish and internationally these things are certainly not practiced/accepted/promoted, etc.” Every three years it is one issue or another, although one particular issue concerning God’s created plan for relations between one man and one woman in Holy Matrimony, and the attempted deviance from that standard, leads the coverage in the media.

Three years ago, after the last General Convention, we printed up bumperstickers that said, “Many Episcopalians still believe the bible is true.” When you scratch below the surface of many of the “issues” facing the Church, you find underneath not the issue, but the struggle of biblical authority—the foundation of our Church herself. Are we free to do as we please and change the teachings of the Church to suit the times, or are we to interpret the times and convert them by the sure Word of God through His revelation in Scripture? I hope it is obvious that as a parish, and most of our worldwide Anglican Communion, stands for Biblical Revelation as the standard for faith in Jesus Christ!

Rest assured that The Faith has not and will not change here at St. John’s, no matter what happens at General Convention. So PRAY, PRAY, PRAY for the Episcopal Church!