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Christianity Today, January (Web-only), 2009 |

'Leaving Isn't the Answer'

Why the pastor of the largest Episcopalian congregation is staying put in a 'very sick' church.

Timothy C. Morgan | posted 1/06/2009 08:27AM

In four weeks, top Anglican bishops and archbishops will gather in Alexandria, Egypt, to determine the next steps for the worldwide Anglican Communion, deeply divided over gays in the church, women's ...

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Kathleen Hooks (Registered User)

Posted: January 16, 2009 4:22 PM


I'm sure that those who leave a "very sick" church do so out of conviction just as much as those who stay. Either decision might be right, based on the leading of the Holy Spirit in that person's life. I have no idea who Kathleen Hooks is. --Robyn

Clinton

Posted: January 16, 2009 12:38 PM

I find Rev. Levenson's comments interesting and yet sad. I find his motives and reasons noble and Biblical. As St. Augustine once said, "there is never any justification for schism in the Church of Christ". Although I would argue that Augustine certainly did not condone heresy of any kind. What I find sad though that his desires no longer make any sense. What is happening in the TEC is a sham anyways, since the TEC has already made and reached decisions in "disunion" with all Christian churches everywhere, forget about its own bishops. By rejecting Scripture, tradition and the communion of other bishops, its already in a state of schism. If he cares so much about unity, he should return to the Church of Rome or Constantinople. Otherwise any talk of unity is a sham. If he rejects unity with Rome or the East because he thinks their doctrines heretical, isn't homosexual sin heretical? - From another Evangelical who just returned home.

James,India

Posted: January 15, 2009 11:33 PM

His choice of examples are silly.Daniel was a slave.But he preferred the lion's den than compromise.Jermiah and Ezekiel had no where to go.Yet they stood and fought against all odds.Rom 1:32, not only do they do what is an abomination to the Lord ,they also have pleasure in those who do it!! Paul's advice to the corinthian church was to to throw the unrepentant sinner out.The anglican church instead elevates them to positions of authority.When prelates start serving the people instead of Jesus, we make His kingdom sadly into a democracy.What do you do with Rev 21:8

john p

Posted: January 14, 2009 12:53 PM


Sorry john g, those who are leaving the mainline denominations are in fact fracturing the body of Christ just as those denominations fractured the body of Christ in their formation. We have made a travesty out of the concept "One Body." I minister in the PCUSA but it is no different than the turmoil in the Episcopal Church.

john p

Posted: January 14, 2009 11:52 AM


Sorry john g, those who are leaving the mainline denominations are in fact fracturing the body of Christ just as those denominations fractured the body of Christ in their formation. We have made a travesty out of the concept "One Body." I minister in the PCUSA but it is no different than the turmoil in the Episcopal Church.

alonzo pearson

Posted: January 13, 2009 11:03 PM


If it is enough to stay in a sick church because one can preach the gospel and remain personally faithful,then why even bother to organize and oppose TEC's revisionist (heretical) agenda?

Ruth in NJ

Posted: January 13, 2009 7:36 PM

If unity is our main objective, one wonders why Russell Levenson Jr. did not follow Richard John Neuhaus and return to the Roman Catholic Church. I am the Sunday School Superintendent in an ELCA church, but this is my last year. I may be able to teach the Gospel, and even teach the kids that sexual intimacy is only for a man and woman in marriage, but if I am teaching under the authority of a pastor and bishop that have told the whole world I am wrong, how affective do you think I will be? Jesus prayed for much more than unity for his followers. Jesus prayed that the Father would glorify the son, that they would know the Father and the Son and have eternal life, kept in His name, filled with His joy, and sanctified in truth. In fact Jesus declared the next day to Pilate that the reason He had come was to testify to the truth. How can any of us accept living with lies for the sake of unity?

Pamela

Posted: January 13, 2009 10:16 AM

Regarding ability to preach the Gospel: I would never encourage any new Christian to join an apostate (Unitarian Universalist theology) denomination. That's the Epis. church currently represented on Oprah by Epis. clergy endorsing homosexuality, and by Robinson who will participate in the Inauguration. That's the Epis. church that is anti-Israel, replacement theology, etc. Knowledge of Scripture in the pews is laughable. What his parish does is always under the authority of the Epis. church - false teachers/leaders. As a TEC friend commented when I brought up evangelism, "We don't mind evangelizing . . as long as it's in Africa!" Yes, the Gospel is severely hampered. No amount of social activism makes up for this. Come out of Egypt!

Glenn

Posted: January 12, 2009 12:20 PM

A s a member of a conservative evangelical church, I am in no position to throw stones at the glass house of the Episcopal Church (TEC). One of my very best friends is an elder at a conservative TEC parish, and my friend is in favor of breaking away from a church that is, as Pastor Levenson says, "promoting a revisionist agenda not consistent with the teaching of Holy Scripture or the tradition of the church." But I certainly applaud Pastor Levenson for staying put and fighting the war from within his denomination. 1 Corinthians 14:33 applies here: let us not introduce confusion but seek to end confusion and disorder within the body of Christ. All denominations would do well to listen to this brave pastor.

susan

Posted: January 10, 2009 10:36 AM

I remain in a church that seems more into political activism and disguises it as SOCIAL JUSTICE. It seems that while the larger (political) church of which this church is a part of, does great mission work and works hard to help the physical needs of people around the world, there is something else going on by many of the social activist preachers coming out of the seventies on. There seems to be little regard for the Bible and the whole Word of God. There is selective teaching of Jesus' sayings. I stay, I study, I pray, and I am active in as many ways as God has shown me to be involved. I am against abortion and work with RTL. This is just something that God will stop and I know things will turn around in God's time. We are to be faithful. I don't believe in using strong language such as murder, etc. We all sin in our hearts. What I can do is pray, and speak the Truth in love, and help whoever God puts in my day. The church needs to provide a home for unwed mothers to be.

Orthodox

Posted: January 10, 2009 7:59 AM

We have a very brief stay on Earth and within our mortal flesh. We have a very brief time to "get it right". If we don't we will surely have an eternity to "regret" our mistake. The "Episcopal Church" may no longer be a "Church of the Christ". It may, in fact, have been "taken over" by demonic forces. When one man takes the God given seed of another into his body and kills it that homosexual act is not love. It is a form of infantacide. It is a form of genocide. No one during these discussions has brought this simple biological fact into the discussion. In support of people practicing this act, the Body of Christ is further torn apart. While the Windsor Report cautioned against demonizing, the act is never-the-less demonic. "Go and sin no more." We are witnessing a battle between good and evil. Between God and satin. You decide. Just remember, eternity is a very long time. Get it right.

CW	Posted: January 09, 2009 7:24 PM

There are a number of arguments in this article that are unconvincing. Daniel in Babylon or Jeremiah in Judah are hardly comparable examples to staying a member of a denomination that has embraced heterodox ideas. And is resistance to proclaiming the gospel the only legitimate grounds for leaving a denomination? Suppose that denomination consists more of tares than of wheat, teaches that a form of immorality is a gift from God rather than a shameful thing, and exalts an unrepentant man to a position of influence and authority rather than exercising discipline? I can understand and sympathize with the agony of seeing the denomination one grew up and invested their lives in become corrupted. And I wish them success in their endeavors to stem that tide. But I am persuaded to think that when one has to evangelize one's own denomination rather than the world, it's time to consider the wisdom of departing for a church that has remained salt and light in the darkness.

Mantony

Posted: January 08, 2009 4:06 AM

How can those that are not attending an Episcopal church speak about the church. I got so tired of the 'country club' in most churches I went back to the Episcopal church and found a deeper spirituality and more scripture read on sunday than in most other denominations. sure the church has its difficulties and problems doesnt all of them. if you want to quote scripture how about taking the log out of your own eye before the spec in others.

Kaisen

Posted: January 08, 2009 1:41 AM

"Why the pastor of the largest Episcopalian congregation is staying put in a 'very sick' church” … Pastor Russell Levinson is not adhering to a "church", rather he is identifying with a denomination, a political organization. The perverted behavior of the Episcopal church (sic) in recent years (especially 2008) is one of social agenda above all else. Pastor Levinson is being far from candid in his portrayal of the primate. The fact is priests and bishops can openly be fornicators, drunks, extortionists, liars, and of course sodomites and no official reproach is afforded. If on the other hand anyone (Anglican) should complain, then you had better watch out, you will soon find out the meaning of reproach. Don’t know anything about Levinson outside of his article, but he strikes me as nothing but a liturgical Rick Warren.

Noreen

Posted: January 07, 2009 3:06 PM

Picking up on what KOZAK said, I agree: things may be hunky-dory in one's home congregation but . . . what happens at ELCA (and other "liberal" Protestant) summer camps, retreat centers (e.g. Holden Village which is dominated by the usual leftist agenda), synod conferences, youth gatherings, etc., et al.? Things have reached a deplorable state when those of us in the pews have to steel ourselves for the effluvium that oozes out of some of our "Christian" denominations. And it is doubly frightening when one realizes that these people are after our children.

CT Anglican

Posted: January 07, 2009 10:19 AM


I think priests who are inhibited and deposed without trial are prevented from preaching the gospel. I'm sure the writer is sincere but what he says reflects his own experience in what seems to be a relatively tolerant diocese. Also, I suspect he writes from the perspective of a rector of a wealthy parish, perhaps an endowed one, which provides further insulation from unpleasantness.

John Richardson

Posted: January 07, 2009 8:25 AM

My beloved Russell overlooks two points (at least). In his past diocese, successive bishops have watched evangelical churches torn assunder precisely across theological lines though not necessarily over theological issues. The Gospel was and is hampered. And the Body of Christ is not Babylon. Of course the church operates in Babylon and must persevere. But it brooks no evil within the Body itself. I think Paul made that case rather well in his first letter to the Corinthian Christians.

Gary DeVine

Posted: January 07, 2009 6:33 AM

To take John G.'s point a step further, they are not schismatics at all, rather the TEC is schismatic. Levenson is schismatic by remaining. The TEC has abandoned the essentials of the Christian faith, and have abandoned the greater Anglican community. Those American Episcopalians that have decided to leave the TEC, typically do so by adjoining to another Anglican bishopric (incorrect term?), such as the Rwandan Anglican communion, and so remain a part of the Anglican communion. I disagree with Levenson on his point that the early church fathers were as weary of schism as they were of heresy; not the historical accuracy of the statement, but the point that he is making. Heresy is always wrong and Paul admonishes pastors to be intolerant of it. Schism is sometimes the lesser of 2 evils. Isn't Levenson Protestant, after all?

susannah

Posted: January 06, 2009 7:22 PM

I left the Episcopal Church, the church of my childhood and of my heart, in the fall of 2003, because of the admonition to come out from among them and be separate, one verse among many others not to fellowship or take Communion with known apostates... On one occasion, that of my father's funeral, I did take Communion at the Episcopal Church whose rector was an ardent supporter of Bishop Robinson. I wonder to this day if I erred by doing so; however, my feelings at the time were to honor my earthly father and my family. Today I am a member of the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church, an orthodox community of Biblical believers. I admit though, I still miss the mystery of the Episcopalian Communion service, where partaking of the Common Cup while kneeling at the altar was to me a true Communion of those present and those in Heaven. There is a price to be paid for standing up for Truth and I, along with other Episcopalian believers, have suffered in various ways for that stand.

borgy

Posted: January 06, 2009 7:07 PM

I was an Episcopalian for 30 years. I witnessed the decline of orthodoxy first hand in TEC. I tried to "work within" to stop the trend to no avail. I didn't leave TEC, it left me. Now I am part of an Anglican Mission in the Americas (Rwanda) parish where we believe the Bible in the rule of faith and practice, Jesus is God incarnate and "the way, the truth and the life," the Resurrection actually happened, and the Great Commission is the first task of the church. My only regret? I wish I would have left sooner.

vanguy452

Posted: January 06, 2009 6:52 PM

Please read John 17 "that they may be one" in context. Jesus was praying for two groups of people: his disciples, and those who would believe because of their witness. Christ was praying that these two groups would be one: one in belief and one in behavior. Admittedly, the Apostles' Creed was not written by the Apostles, but it certainly represents the faith of the Apostles. It and the Nicean and Athanasian Creeds represent the Apostolic faith. As far as behavior goes, the Apostles were commanded to love one another. Loving one another is the standard by which Jesus said all would know that they and we are His disciples (John 16). When believers today are one in belief and behavior with the apostles, then the world will believe. This verse does not mean organizational unity. It never did.

To the Feminized church, like that of Thyatira under the spell of Jezebel

Posted: January 06, 2009 5:43 PM

A word, for those who listen: "gay people in the church are preventing the further reformation of the whole holy church." We should be moving towards the further increase of the experience of grace in each person's life. We must also learn from Jesus warning to the feminized church (under Jezebel) in Thyatira (in the Revelation) that there is a church that both does good works but preaches sexual vice: "19I know your record and what you are doing, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your recent works are more numerous and greater than your first ones.20But I have this against you: that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess [claiming to be inspired], and who is teaching and leading astray my servants and beguiling them into practicing sexual vice "(Revelation 2 (Amplified Bible))

R. K. Muzzarelli

Posted: January 06, 2009 5:01 PM

Neither Jesus nor the Apostles minced words about sin and neither must any true believer. The error and perhaps even danger is when what God has stated in the Scriptures is unacceptable is officially condoned by a denomination or individual congregation. There is much latitude between personal preferences and the official position of a denomination or independent church group. There is no latitude with what the Word of God clearly declares. I think much of the problem is the situational ethics that many people today accept as being relevant to the church. Students, politicians, teachers, church going people, clergy and anyone else who may be of the opinion that what seems right to them must be right with God are seriously mistaken. Recorded history and the Scriptures show very clearly that when people do what is right in their own sight a downward spiral of immorality is inevitable. I applaud anyone who shows the love of Christ and yet take a stand for the truth of God.

John G.

Posted: January 06, 2009 3:52 PM

While I respect this pastor's position, & trust that his efforts to be salt & light from within will bear some fruit, I have my doubts about that. In any event, those who leave are not fracturing the Body of Christ. The true Church, which is invisible, consists of all true believers, whatever their denominational label. The visible churches are not coterminous with the true Church. No true spiritual unity is lost when groups of believers change their earthly labels. Visible, outward unity is lost, true, but that's not the same thing at all.

Jerry Sabo

Posted: January 06, 2009 3:24 PM


While it is true the church is in a conumdrum and the Rector feels he should stay faithful,one must not forget that Jesus himself said "people refuse to listen,shake the dust from their feet and go elsewhere. The Bible is clear on homosexualty and lesbianism. Not to despise them but the act and pray for them without ceasing.

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