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Do you think TEC will move in 2009 to allow more gay bishops and same-sex unions/gay marriage? If so, what will you do?

Every effort will be made by those who support the revisionist agenda to seek approval for the ordination of persons sexually active outside of heterosexual marriage, and who seek approval of same-sex blessings — every effort will be made to further that agenda.

If we see a further step to the Left, at this time it will be disastrous. There are many who believe the Episcopal Church can withstand another body blow like it did in 2003, and it may. But the furthering disunity between the polar opposites will grow even further; another similar step will make the hemorrhage after the General Convention in 2003 look like a paper cut.

Some will argue that the Episcopal Church has put on the brakes on issues related to human sexuality since 2003, but that is simply not true. There has been a consistent and pervasive move to further the agenda. I have pleaded with the presiding bishop, [Katharine Jefferts Schori], to hit the pause button — to honor the moratoria — to not pole vault over the obvious divisions and try and land in a place that the church cannot land without further division.

We will stay and continue to preach faithfully; we will build strong relationships with other bishops, clergy, parishes, and dioceses who share that desire; and we will work with all due diligence to embrace whatever requests the greater Anglican Communion makes of its constituent members.

Church fathers said the two great enemies of the body of Christ were heresy and schism. They did not say one was better than the other — only that both were tools of the Devil to divide the body of Christ. I think we are seeing both actively at work in virtually every mainline denomination today. We have an obligation to stand against both and work instead for a faithful, orthodox witness and a body of believers bound by their common love of the Lord Jesus and one another.

What exactly are you seeking? The resignation of Bishop Gene Robinson? A new affirmation of the creeds, councils, and canons of the church? Or something else?

The Communion Partners Plan seeks to be a fellowship of like-minded and like-hearted primates, bishops, and rectors. After our spring meeting, we will be looking [for] ways to expand participation by associate and assistant clergy, lay persons, and institutions as well. We are committed to the Windsor Process and unfolding Covenant Process [reform initiatives from conservatives], and we share a common commitment to biblical, orthodox, and evangelical faith. While we are Episcopal, we are not defined primarily by our denomination, but by our participation in the body of Christ. The General Convention that approved Bishop Robinson's consecration and those who support that decision (as well as a decision to bless same-sex unions) are promoting a revisionist agenda not consistent with the teaching of Holy Scripture or the tradition of the church.

It would be an honorable thing if Bishop Robinson resigned. I do not think he will do so, but clearly his election and subsequent consecration was one of the most divisive events in the body of Christ. The press has not done an adequate job of reporting on the success stories in the Episcopal Church, and it has also — too often — presumed that the vast majority of Episcopalians agree with the revisionist agenda. I would argue that the vast majority in the pews do not. Many bishops do not, and many clergy do not.

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January (Web-only) 2009, Vol. 53