Two Types of Unity and Diversity

The statement from the March meeting of the House of Bishops also includes this statement: “What is important to us is that The Episcopal Church is a constituent member of a family of Churches, all of whom share a common mother in the Church of England. That membership gives us the great privilege and unique opportunity of sharing in the family’s work of alleviating human suffering in all parts of the world.”

This sentence seems to be saying that we have one mission: “alleviating human suffering in all parts of the world.” While Jesus did tell us to help others (and his brother James later said that without such work, our faith is but empty words), the commission he gave us was to call the world to faith in him as the divinely appointed Savior who gave his life for the sins of humanity. It was that commission that sent the Apostles out into the world to preach Christ and to work strenuously for healthy, gospel-preaching congregations.

The Episcopal Church seems to be saying, “Unity of Purpose, Diversity of Beliefs.” Episcopalians are free, it would seem from what many reappraisers are saying, to believe pretty nearly anything, as long as everyone is on board with the purpose of “alleviating human suffering in all parts of the world.”

That is hogwash. We are to have a unity of belief and purpose, and a diversity of gifts to accomplish the ministry of the Church, which is to call all to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus and to establish congregations which will carry on the belief and purpose commissioned by the Lord Jesus. Yes, we are to help those in need, but physical relief alone is not humanity's ultimate problem. We suffer physical needs because we have rebelled against out Creator and our King. We can only fully meet the needs of humanity if we also enable people to lay down their arms and be reconciled to God.

If we can affirm the Nicene Creed and be guided by Scripture as the revealed Word of God, we will be at unity with the Church. We will also exhibit a breathtaking diversity in gifts and graces, as we seek to serve the Lord Jesus in the myriad ways he will empower and direct.

And in truth, the idea of “Unity of Purpose, Diversity of Beliefs” is bound to result in a unity of beliefs itself in the long run. Such a grouping cannot long tolerate those who would uphold historic faith as being true. To remain within the "modern Episcopal Church," one must bow the knee to affirming the validity of whatever nonsense a fellow Episcopalian may dream up – or else one will be cast out as not affirming diversity. In the end, there will be no diversity at all, but only a group of people who affirm no creed but that of “diversity,” and who may exhibit some diversity of outward appearance or sexual orientation, but not the richness of diversity of those united in a common faith as Jesus as the only Lord and Savior, the one who died to pay the penalty of our sins and who rose to affirm his victory over sin and death.

Glorify Christ and preach him, and a vast diversity of humanity will be drawn to him in love, praise, and gratitude. Glorify diversity, and you will get chaos.

Category Confusion?

The House of Bishops met in Texas this past week, and issued a statement responding the Dar es Salaam Communiqué from the Primates of the Anglican Communion. The House of Bishops repudiated all the requests made of the Episcopal Church, in no uncertain terms.

One thing that their letter said about the request to have a Primatial Vicar to oversee conservative dioceses (and parishes?) was, “It violates our founding principles as The Episcopal Church following our own liberation from colonialism and the beginning of a life independent of the Church of England.”

I have read on quite a few “reappraiser blogs” words to the effect that “we fought a war to end British control of this nation.” It is this idea, reflected in the above quote from the HoB’s statement, that leads me to the idea of category confusion. We fought a war in 1776 to attain political independence from Great Britain. But when the dust settled, and the Protestant Episcopal Church was formed in the United States, we went to great lengths to maintain spiritual interdependence with the Church of England.

We did not organize dioceses and then elect bishops and consecrate them ourselves. Rather, the first bishop we elected was sent to England to be consecrated by English bishops, to show our connectedness to the Church of England. When, because of requirements in the English Prayer Book that the candidate affirm loyalty to the King made it impossible for an American to be consecrated bishop, the Rev. Samuel Seabury went to Scotland and the bishops of the Scottish Episcopal Church, who had no such requirement in their service of ordination for bishops. The Church of England later recognized the need for Americans to have bishops of their own, and did not require an American candidate for bishop to swear loyalty to the Crown.

And when we formulated our own Book of Common Prayer, we wrote in the preface that we had no intent of leaving the Christian faith as it had been expressed in England, but rather “that this Church is far from intending to depart from the Church of England in any essential point of doctrine, discipline, or worship, or further than local circumstances require.” We acknowledged that we were a daughter church and that we were connected to the Church of England in a spiritual tie.

If we are connected to the Church of England, and to her other daughter churches, by spiritual ties, then we should heed their voice as they address us. The United States may be politically independent from Great Britain, but that does not make the Episcopal Church independent of all the other Churches of the Communion. Why should we not accede to the voices of love that bid us review our decisions and see if they are appropriate for a Christian Church to make? Apparently, however, we would rather be like the scribes and chief priests, who would rather challenge Jesus than be challenged by him.