Fr. Rob Eaton: Letter to the Parish Regarding the Bishop Ordination in Los Angeles

From Eagles that Pray (blog) via TitusOneNine:

Posted on May 15, 2010


May 13, 2010

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ of St. John’s,

I give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for your faithful witness and commitment to “the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone.” It is a faithfulness that has being sorely tested, and continues to be tested. Angela and I both know the pain so many of you have shared with me that reliable and trusted friends and neighbors, as well as many acquaintances, have aggressively confronted you challenging your decision to continue with this parish as we have chosen to continue with The Episcopal Church in the USA since February of 2008. Thank you.

At Morning Prayer every morning this same prayer is offered on your behalf as we pray for individual members by name, and for the parish as a whole. The prayer, which is the Collect for Proper 8, on page 230 in the Book of Common Prayer, continues on from the part which I quoted above, “…Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their teaching, that we may be made a holy temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord…”

Every time an event takes place within The Episcopal Church that defies that very teaching upon which this Church is founded, we face not only the challenge that comes to us locally, but also within the diocese and from within the Church as a whole. It is not easy to remain faithful, as you have. Now we are tested again.

Such is the election within the Diocese of Los Angeles, and consented to by a majority of jurisdictional bishops (those who are actually in charge of a diocese) and diocesan Standing Committees (69 out of 110), of the Rev Mary Glasspool to be a Suffragan Bishop (an assistant bishop for the diocese). The problem is that Mary openly admitted at the time of her nomination to an existing “committed” relationship with another woman, clearly implying including a sexual relationship.

Why is that a problem? Very simply, the bible is consistent throughout the Old and New Testament that God has deemed marriage to be between a man and a woman, and God has commanded that no physical sexual acts are to take place between people outside of marriage. No if’s, and’s or but’s.

Of course, this is not a new development. Seven years ago, in 2003, there was the election, consent and consecration of the Rev Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire. That event became the tipping point for many in our Church, and which has caused you and I and the parish such grief from our friends and neighbors and former parishioners for still being a parish in The Episcopal Church USA. That your vestry and I have not condoned this rejection of clear biblical standards, in fact actively condemned it, has not lessened the confrontations we have experienced. And it is this very rejection of biblical authority that pushed the diocese of San Joaquin to vote in convention to associate with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone (South America).

This is also not a new development for Los Angeles. The Rt Rev Jon Bruno, an old acquaintance of mine, is obviously openly supportive of such an election (or he could have kept her from being nominated), as well as back-door methods of allowing same-sex unions to be “blessed” by members of the clergy when they request it. As well, he hired an already ordained bishop to assist in Los Angeles (who is now retired and thus the need for new assisting bishops) who has also been in a same-sex relationship. +Los Angeles is in great confusion regarding the authority of Holy Scripture.

On that note, you should be praying for those clergy and congregations in Los Angeles who have taken the stand of being faithful to scripture in the face of a withering assault of secularization. I know who they are, and have met and prayed over the last few years with almost all of them. Of course, they think that you and I are the ones to feel sorry for. But there is one big difference.

St. John’s may be solitary and isolated in our diocese if only on the matter of the biblical teaching of sex, sexuality, and marriage, but at least we have a bishop with which we can maintain fellowship. It is not that Bishop Jerry Lamb doesn’t support the gay agenda within the Church, because he does. But he has publicly stated – and at this point in deference to St. John’s since there seems to be no other clergy or congregational opposition – that he will not ordain anyone in an openly homosexual relationship, nor allow for the blessing of same-sex unions while he is our bishop. His rationalization for that stance is that he understands the nature of a bishop of “provisional authority” to not be one who makes such fellowship-altering policies and decisions. In his words, that will have to wait until the diocese elects their own bishop. Well, then, despite our unquestionable differences with him and others in positions of power in the diocese which have caused us much unnecessary grief, we give thanks to God for that rationalization on his part.

We will have to deal with our relationship with the bishop anew if and when a new bishop is elected for our diocese who has no such reservations. I don’t see that happening for at least another two years. The process for such an election hasn’t even been called for yet.

Here are some things you need to be aware of:

1) Mary Glasspool’s ordination to the episcopate will take place this weekend, on May 15. The news media will be all over it; so will our local detractors. Pray up, be prepared, share the love of Christ, love your enemies, give thanks for your rector, your vestry and your parish.

2) The vestry and I have blessedly made clear where we stand on this issue. From the letter mailed to the congregation back in 2003 to the discussions and concensus over this last year, it has been framed as a matter of the understanding and teaching of the bible regarding the nature and design of marriage. We are being faithful to God.

3) At the least, God is not pleased with this ordination, nor the consent process leading to it, nor the election by the clergy and delegates to the Los Angeles convention who voted for her, nor is God pleased with the majority of the nominating committee placing her in a finalist position going into the election, nor with Bishop Bruno for not calling the whole thing off with her by making it clear he would not license her to be a bishop in the diocese if she were to be elected. God is not pleased with whomever nominated her in the first place. Because of his ordination and office as bishop, Bp Bruno will carry the greater weight of the blame.

God is not pleased with Mary Glasspool’s choices in sexual acts and for promoting such relationship. Not only is God not pleased, but those involved also have failed to show their love for God in so doing. God the Father said, “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.” Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey my commands.” God is not pleased with those sons and daughters who do not respect Jesus’ enough to follow his commands and teachings.

4) Because the Prayer Book identifies this unrepentant behavior as a serious breach of fellowship, I will not, as a priest and as your rector, willingly give permission to the Rev Mary Glasspool or the Rt Rev Jon Bruno to minister in this parish. It may be a moot point as I doubt they would ever desire to do so, but it is important for you to know I value highly the personal, emotional, spiritual and biblical safety of this parish.

5) Because this action is not pleasing to God does not mean that God has turned his back on TECUSA, nor does it mean that we are also complicit by remaining. Scripture is clear that there is always the need and calling for admonishment and correction within the People of God. We are here and by our very existence are calling those actions of disobedience into question. We are in the right place for this time.

6) If section 3 has convicted you as it has me of the many things that God is also not pleased about in your and my life, then good. What is the answer, perhaps the solution, to the state of being where God is not pleased? Repentance. Thus, you need to be aware that any of those mentioned in section 3 have the option of obeying yet another of Jesus’ commands, which is to repent of all disobedience, asking for forgiveness. For those in leadership in our parish, as well as all other parishioners, now would be a good time to cease from any actions and behaviors that are not pleasing to the Lord (seen or unseen), repent, confess and be restored.

7) We are not alone. The Lord is with us. So is the great majority of the world-wide Anglican Communion provinces. We have received commitments from Archbishops of their willingness to be in communion with us, the faithful dioceses and isolated parishes, even if so many now refuse to be in fellowship with The Episcopal Church as an entity.

Most of those Provinces see and uphold the clarity of Resolution 1.10 of the 1998 Lambeth conference of bishops, which remains the official position of the Anglican Communion and which states:

• in view of the teaching of Scripture, upholds faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in lifelong union, and believes that abstinence is right for those who are not called to marriage;
• recognizes that there are among us persons who experience themselves as having a homosexual orientation. Many of these are members of the Church and are seeking the pastoral care, moral direction of the Church, and God’s transforming power for the living of their lives and the ordering of relationships. We commit ourselves to listen to the experience of homosexual persons and we wish to assure them that they are loved by God and that all baptised, believing and faithful persons, regardless of sexual orientation, are full members of the Body of Christ;
• while rejecting homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture, calls on all our people to minister pastorally and sensitively to all irrespective of sexual orientation and to condemn irrational fear of homosexuals, violence within marriage and any trivialisation and commercialisation of sex; [and]
• cannot advise the legitimizing or blessing of same sex unions nor ordaining those involved in same gender unions…

Granted, there are a few of you who do not accept the ordination of women as a matter of your understanding of biblical texts, or lack of them to warrant. And this ordination will be irritating enough to you for that reason. Suffice it to say that the issue of women’s ordination is quite distinct. Nowhere in the bible does it say that it is wrong to be or act like a woman, any more than as a man. Quite the opposite. “Male and female he made them.” But to the contrary, the bible reveals God’s will that it is wrong to ordain those of any gender who are unrepentant of disobedience.

So, then, the question, “How shall we carry on as St. John’s?”, is answered by standing frim in the faith of Jesus Christ, recognize that God knows how to separate the sheep from the goats, and that we will continue to be an aggressive biblical witness not only to our neighbors, but to our fellow Episcopalians both in our diocese and on the west coast, and throughout the Church.

How do we respond? With prayer, with worship, with healing for those who are in need, proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ, holding to the testimony of the apostles and prophets without regret, looking for the completion of all things, building up the Body of Christ, and expanding the Kingdom of God.

We are here, and we are not going anywhere. It is a valid biblical calling and position, In Jesus Name.

Yours in Christ, and in witness and in ministry, with prayer,

Rob+