St. Peter’s Anglican Church

Finally! As published in the Birmingham News:

http://blog.al.com/birmingham-news-commentary/2009/08/your_views_trails_of_africa_ex.html

The Episcopal Church: Parsley’s comments heartbreaking

Recently, the Episcopal Church abandoned its place in the Anglican Communion. Scholar, and Bishop N.T. Wright opined that by “cynical double-think” to the contrary, “we should not be fooled.” The archbishop of Canterbury, sole arbiter of all things Anglican, agreed.

Far more appalling was Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori’s rather callous dismissal of apostolic teaching as “the great Western heresy.” Per Schori, the heresy is in “insisting that salvation depends on reciting a specific verbal formula about Jesus.” Do Romans 10:9, “Jesus is Lord,” and your own baptismal examination ring a bell?

The most appalling thing, primarily because he shepherds many beloved in our city, is Henry Parsley’s defense of her unbelief in The News: “She was talking about the concept of ubuntu, an African word for ‘person in community.’”

Schori speaks for herself. She was talking about salvation and the particularity of Jesus, which she subsequently confirmed. She did not alter the truth. She simply abandoned it.

Parsley’s comments obscure the fact the Episcopal Church’s head pastor doesn’t believe what Anglicans believe or, for that matter, what Christians always and everywhere have believed. That’s heartbreaking, given that he vowed “to guard the faith, unity and discipline of the church.”

The Rev. Dr. John D. Richardson
St. Peter’s Anglican Church
Birmingham