St. Peter’s Anglican Church

August 5, 2009

Dear Editors:

Recently The Episcopal Church abandoned its place in the Anglican Communion. Bishop of Durham, N. T. Wright, said resolution DO25 “marks a clear break with the rest of the Anglican Communion” By “cynical double-think” to the contrary, “We should not be fooled.” The Archbishop of Canterbury and sole arbiter of all things Anglican, agreed.

Far more appalling was the Presiding Bishop’s rather callous dismissal of received doctrine. For her, the idea that we can be saved as individuals is “the great western heresy.” Per Schori, the heresy is manifest in “insisting that salvation depends on reciting a specific verbal formula about Jesus.” Surely this PhD hasn’t overlooked Paul, in Romans10, relating salvation and confessing with your mouth that “Jesus is Lord”?

The most appalling thing, primarily because he shepherds many beloved in our city, is Henry Parsley’s defense of her unbelief in your paper:

“She was talking about the concept of ubuntu, an African word for ‘person in community,’” Parsley said. “None of us as Christians is alone, but we are all in community.”

She speaks for herself Henry! She said she was talking about the great western heresy and its foundational place in the crises facing TEC. Intentional or not, Henry’s comments hide the fact that the head of the Episcopal Church doesn’t believe what Anglicans believe or, for that matter, what Christians always and everywhere have believed. Heartbreaking given that he vowed “to guard the faith, unity and discipline of the Church.”

Sincerely,

Rev. Dr. John D. Richardson, Senior Pastor

St. Peter’s Anglican Church, AMiA

www.stpetersbhm.org