Pastoral Letter from the Rt. Rev. Terence Kelshaw, Bishop of the Rio Grande, from General Convention 2003

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 fellowship 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.