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Bishop Kelshaw's Pastoral Letter from General Convention's
Terence, by divine permission Bishop of the Diocese of the Rio
Grande, to my beloved sisters and brothers in our family of
faith: Greetings.On Tuesday, August 5, 2003, after the House of Bishops voted to
confirm the election of a person sexually active outside of holy
matrimony as the Bishop of New Hampshire, I stood with some
twenty other bishops to reject this unprecedented action of
General Convention. We stood deeply conscious of our
responsibility as bishops to guard the faith of the Church. It
was perfectly clear to us that a new and alien teaching had been
introduced, one which will inevitably distance the Episcopal
Church from other Christian churches, both here and abroad.
Already it has brought deep division and turmoil to our common
life.
We have accordingly called on the Archbishop of
Canterbury and the Primates of the Anglican Communion to
intervene in the pastoral emergency that now exists in the
Episcopal Church. Our intention is to stand in our places and
work to reconnect our dioceses and congregations to the vibrant
and faithful life that characterizes the greater part of the
Anglican Church Events of churches.
Often I have shared with you my own convictions about
ministry in a theologically conflicted church. This has been
especially on my mind these last days and given me much
encouragement.
Richard Baxter was an Anglican clergyman who lived from
1615 to 1691 and is often referred to as a member of the Puritans
which in England at the time described somebody who was
evangelical and catholic. As Rector of Kidderminster, he was an
amazing pastor and preacher and his sermons on the reformed
pastor were delivered to a clerical fraternity called the
Worcestershire association which fixed a day of fasting and
prayer regularly and invited Baxter to preach. His first sermon
was on the text from Acts 20:28 - "Take heed therefore unto
yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Spirit has
made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he has
purchased with his own blood." This is what he had to say about
it:"Though we teach our people, as officers set over them in the
Lord, yet may we teach one another, as brethren in office, as
well as in the faith ... A short sermon, but not soon learned!
Had the bishops and teachers of the Church but thoroughly learned
this short exhortation, though to the neglect of many a volume
which has taken up their time ... how happy it would be for the
church and for themselves! See that the work of saving grace be
thoroughly wrought in your own souls. Take heed to yourselves,
lest you be void of that saving grace of God which you offer to
others, and be strangers to the effectual working of that gospel
which you preach."At this General Convention in 2003, I have been forced
again and again to return to Richard Baxter and to his teaching
on the life of a reformed pastor. The book is little known to
most Episcopal clergy, I suspect, and would be probably too hard
in its lessons for many to read carefully. You have heard me say
many times that there is a mighty job to do within the Episcopal
Church and that my reason for remaining a bishop within it is
based upon my commitment to the people of God in the Rio Grande.
Over most of my episcopate, there has hovered a series of clouds
of tumult and dispute. Mostly occasioned, I believe, by our
insistence on placing God and His word on the anvil of our
opinions rather than being ourselves placed on the anvil of His
word to be clearly and graciously shaped there by His Holy
Spirit. Out of my commitment for the catholic faith and the
Anglican Communion, I have often referred to another great
reformed Anglican, George Whitfield, who at a previous time of
turmoil in the Church of England was asked by the students of the
theological college whether it was not time to leave the
Communion. His response was this:"The Church of England is rather like a huge wooden ship limping
into harbor overburdened with much cargo and a great deal of it
being cargo it should not be carrying. Oftentimes its crew is
inexperienced or unenthusiastic, but we should stay with the
ship. Until they forbid you to preach the gospel, we should stay
aboard and help it to harbor."While my heart wants to say with George Whitfield, "Let's
stay in the Church and remain firm to its catholic heritage," my
head recognizes that there are those in our Church who do not
come to search after truth but who dictate to others often with
an arrogant and domineering spirit. I am therefore forced into
committing myself to those in the diocese both individuals and
congregations to offer such help as I possibly can if it becomes
clearly apparent to them that they ought to move on to other
pastors of Christian community. For the health and salvation of
congregations, I will not stand in the way of those who desire an
exit or for those who wish to bring into their communities from
time to time faithful and godly preachers and teachers who have
previously left us for organizations such as the Anglican Mission
in America or its equivalent in Canada. I am sorry to be the
bearer of such negative news from the General Convention, but I
can assure you that your delegation was faithful both to the Word
of God and to their conscience without losing sight of what they
have sensed is the response of our diocese.
Clearly, we have work and mission yet to do. We have new
congregations that need stronger establishment, and we have
people who are yet outside the Church but who need God's grace in
their lives. I know a number of you have said to me how
difficult it is to make the Episcopal Church attractive when this
kind of legislation is so unhelpful to the work and mission in
most places. Certainly there are one or two places that this
kind of news is heartily acceptable, but by far the majority of
you express a sense of embarrassment to be an Episcopalian.
Indeed, I have had a number of clergy ask me how soon they can
take the word Episcopal from off their church note paper and
publicity, and my response has been "do it now." Under God's
grace, there can be a revival of faith and we can focus our
images on winning the churched for Christ in building up the
Kingdom of God rather than expanding a bureaucracy - the Church
and the Kingdom are not synonymous. While I cannot say, "Hang on
and see what happens," I will say, "Become more energized in
making our issue the winning of men, women, young people, and
children for Christ."
Let me close with a final comment from Richard Baxter:"Never does sin so reign in the church or state, as when it has
gained reputation, or, at least, is no disgrace to the sinner,
nor a matter of offence to we who behold it."Brothers and sisters, set yourselves clearly for the work
of salvation and follow it diligently, and even if you do it
silently, do not neglect the ministry that God has given you.
And to the clergy let me say zealously, "Contend for the faith of
Christ and help us to be a group of disciples making disciples."
Let us pray for the Church./s/ +Terence
The Rt. Rev. Dr. Terence Kelshaw
Bishop, Rio Grande
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