Via VirtueOnline. The original story was posted here yesterday. ed.
Parish will take case to Texas Supreme Court
To the Editor
El Paso, Inc.
100 Porfirio Diaz
El Paso, Texas 79902
Dear Editor:
I write to express my appreciation for your article on St. Francis on the Hill Church in the last weekend issue of the Inc. While most of the facts noted are accurate, I need to draw your attention to a couple of things that do not certainly apply to St. Francis on the Hill Church.
First of all, the impression was given that St. Francis left the Episcopal Church because of non-acceptance of women in ordained ministry. The fact of the matter is that St. Francis actually does accept and celebrate the ordination of women in the diaconal and priestly ministries. The evidence is obvious, in that we have two female clergy working with me: the Rev. Cindy Anderson (priest) and the Rev. Daphne Orgeron (deacon).
Secondly, the impression was also given that St. Francis does not accept gay people. The truth, however, is that we do accept all people, including gays and lesbians. This is an acceptance that calls for a radical transformation expected of every single one of us by God and enabled by the Holy Spirit. It is God's expectation of all Christians to repent and turn away from a lifestyle that is contrary to the Word of God, and that includes gays and lesbians. The Bible condemns homosexual practice and not homosexuals. The Bible calls them to repent and lead a life of holiness, and that is our hope and prayer.
Let me now set the facts straight as to why we left the Episcopal Church. We left the Episcopal Church because the leadership of the Episcopal Church has abandoned the primary authority of Bible with respect to Christian doctrine and practice, and here are some examples. First, the Bible teaches that Jesus is the only way to salvation. The leadership of the Episcopal Church consistently and vehemently denies this truth, insisting that Jesus is not the only way to salvation - that there are many other ways.
Second, the Bible teaches that sexual activity should only be in the context of male and female marital relationship. The Episcopal Church disagrees, and argues that homoerotic relations are appropriate, as well as other forms of sexual aberrations.
Third, the Bible teaches that marriage is only between male and female. The Episcopal Church says that is no longer true, that homosexual marriage should be upheld and celebrated by the Church along with heterosexual marriages.
Fourth, the Bible teaches that Christians should not take one another to court, but the Episcopal Church has consistently ignored such clear teaching of Scripture and has taken fellow Christians to court in order to unjustly deprive them of property that belongs to the worship of God by faithful Anglicans.
Those, among a number of other liturgical and theological experimentations, are the reasons why we left TEC. Essentially, the Leadership of TEC has not only led many astray into falsehood via it's abandonment of Scripture and 2000years of Christian teaching, it has also sadly abandoned the church's mission to the world. In other words, it was because they left the Faith that we, St. Francis, left them. Positively stated, we left TEC because we want to be faithful to the teaching of Scripture in matters of doctrine, practice, and evangelism.
We welcome everyone who wishes to follow Christ to join us at St. Francis. We are not looking for perfect people because we are not perfect ourselves. We are looking for people who have a desire to follow Christ to come along with us as we struggle together to be faithful to His Word. Our church is a joyful, vibrant community that is very loving and gracious. We are still growing into the fullness of Christ's calling on our lives.
May God bless you all,
Rev. Dr. Felix Orji
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