Los Angeles: "Big Tent" in Diocese has collapsed

Via VirtueOnline:

Statement by The Rev. Canon Brian Cox
December 22, 2009

The election of Canon Mary Glasspool as a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Los Angeles will only further estrange the Diocese of Los Angeles from much of the Anglican Communion. Her election presents a particular challenge to those of us who are seeking to be faithful to the biblical, historical faith. Unfortunately, the "big tent" that once existed in the Diocese of Los Angeles has been steadily shrinking since 2006 and has now collapsed.

Regardless of the actions of the Diocese of Los Angeles, the Rector and Vestry of Christ the King remain committed to serving the needs of this congregation best by:

1. A continued focus on our core values as the defining characteristics of our life together, our ministry and our mission.

2. A positive focus on our unique identity and our God-given mission of faith-based reconciliation to the Santa Barbara community and beyond.

3. A growing emphasis on the Kingdom of God instead of the institutional Episcopal Church.

As your Rector and pastor I am asking you to trust me to continue leading you in the manner that I have for the past eighteen years. We will continue to have Bishop Ed Little as our pastoral bishop. He will be coming April 9 - 11, 2010 to make a visitation and preside at confirmation.

We should remember that the Christ the King community itself has a diversity of opinion about how the church should respond to gay and lesbian persons. Personally, I would not want to be part of any church that made gays and lesbians unwelcome. At the same time, I do not personally support gay marriage or partnered gays as ordained clergy. I honor those of you at Christ the King who disagree with me. What binds us together is not uniformity on issues of moral theology but our love for Jesus Christ and our desire to surrender our lives to God's sovereign authority.

CTK CORE VALUES

* We value submission to God embodied in being reconciled through the atoning death of Jesus on the cross and putting God's will at the center of our individual and collective life.

* We value the Holy Bible as God's transcendent revelation and as the embodiment of God's moral vision for our lives and for society. We hold it be the final authority on matters of doctrine and ethics in our lives and for the church.

* We value our community at Christ the King in all its diversity and pledge to strive for unity through respect, truth telling, transparency, repentance, forgiveness and extending grace to one another.

* We value our Anglican tradition with its comprehensive nature, its catholic and reformation roots, its evangelistic preaching and sacramental worship, its incarnational discipleship and pastoral community and its emphasis on respect for the dignity of every human being. We especially value the sacramental encounter with Jesus through the eucharistic liturgy.

* We value Christ centered spiritual growth that leads to transformation of people through the power of the Holy Spirit.

* We value God's love for us as well as our love for one another. That love nourishes our souls, lifts our burdens, gives us strength to meet life's challenges and to give God our best.


---- The Reverend Canon Brian Cox is Rector of Christ the King Episcopal Church in Santa Barbara, California, Senior Vice President for Dispute Resolution Training for the International Center for Religion & Diplomacy in Washington D.C., President of the Reconciliation Institute of Santa Barbara and Adjunct Professor of Law at Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu, California.