|
Fisherman Letter for December 2006
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
Dear Friends,
In November, most of us concluded our 40 Days of Discernment period. Before I offer some observations on the 40 Days, consider this: at St. Andrew's we have more than 78 households on our parish rolls with 61 of those households active in our parish life. Over 40 of those 61 households active in our parish life participated in the 40 Days of Discernment through either a small group or by using the guidebook for the program. More than those 40 households have been with us on Sundays as we have looked at the Apostle Paul's first epistle to the church in Corinth in our worship services as part of our 40 Days of Discernment. Twelve of our members committed to the Saturday morning prayer vigils that we held on the six Saturdays of the 40 Days.
This is to say that we have had wide participation at a number of different levels and our parish is better informed than ever on the issues that confront us. As many of you know, we have actually been in a discernment period for over three years, and our vestry believes that it is now time to make the decisions necessary for the future well-being of our parish. What path will we take at St. Andrew's in the present realignment of the Anglican Communion?
To this point, we have identified ourselves with what Bishop Robert Duncan, Moderator of the Anglican Communion Network, calls the enduring Episcopal Church. We have repudiated the decisions of the innovating Episcopal Church that has refused to be guided by Scripture or the wider church; the Episcopal Church has continued to walk apart from the Anglican Communion. The 40 Days of Discernment in our parish has been a time of growing clarity about what God would have us to do and be. Now is the time to act. Prior to any action we might take, it is essential that our parish meet together in a solemn assembly to chart together our future direction. The Vestry has requested the presence of all parish members at a special meeting in the Community Center on Sunday, December 10 at 11:30 a.m.
Our 40 Days of Discernment guidebook offers three scenarios that can come out of our discernment process. These are given as "a starting for congregational and small group discussions" (p. 86). I will summarize the options here, as they are given on pages 86-88 of the guidebook:
1 .Conform to the TEC (the Episcopal Church) status-quo
As the explanation in the guidebook suggests, this option calls us to "Embrace compromise for the sake of unity." The implications for remaining in The Episcopal Church (TEC) under this option are clear: one is that we drop our belief that the Bible is the primary authority for the Church. Part of the possible cost is that we “Risk losing members who prefer option 2 or 3.
2. Stay and resist TEC
This option calls us to "Decline to compromise or walk apart." This strategy would entail us enduring the hostility of other Episcopalians who don't understand why we insist on following the Bible as we do. I have personally found that some of those who espouse "inclusive love" do not show that love to those who disagree with them in TEC. An inevitable cost in this option is that we will "Grieve over the continuing loss of members who can no longer in good conscience remain in a congregation that is in TEC, or who prefer option I."
3. Affiliate with another branch of Anglicanism
Under this option there are several possibilities. One possibility is coming "under the episcopal oversight of an orthodox province elsewhere in the Anglican Communion." This alternative was chosen by St. Andrew's Syracuse, after the diocese told them that they should remove their rector.
A second alternative is to join the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA). Martyn Minns, the former rector of Truro Church in Fairfax, Virginia is the first bishop of CANA and he is currently exercising his episcopal ministry with churches in Virginia.
A third alternative is to align with one of the forty or so groups that have already disaffiliated with TEC. For example, this might mean alignment with the Anglican Mission in America, an offshoot from TEC that has a number of bishops spread geographically across the United States.
As I said on Sunday morning, November 19, our vestry takes the decisions before us with the utmost seriousness that they deserve. We are prayerfully, in light of Scripture and with much conversation together, moving toward our parish conversation on December 10 believing that the Holy Spirit is with us and guiding us toward the right decisions for our future together.
Yours in Christ,
The
Rev. Tony Seel
|