"I am doing absolutely everything I can – and have done so for eighteen years – to uphold “orthodoxy,” to remain faithful to the Lord and to the scriptures, to call this oh-so-compromised Church back to its own heritage. But I will not break the rules to do so. I am working "within the system" for a comprehensive solution to a complex situation. These efforts can be easily undermined by precipitous actions, and I urge us to be very careful."+John Howe, Diocese of Central Florida, in a letter to the diocese.
There have been many comments made, pro and con, about the stances of the 'Windsor Bishops" in the Episcopal Church. They are 'toadying to the Executive Council', they are selling out the traditional Anglicans in their sees, they are hellbent on destroying the Church, etc., etc., etc.
In this letter from +Howe, we see the anguish that must reside in these men of God, as they try to preserve not only their diocesan clergy and congregations, their call within the Episcopal Church, their responsibilities to their individual families, but also their responsibility to obey God.
These are truly perilous times, the 'times that try men's souls', and we must prayerfully support our shepherds (those who are still in TEC) and those of us who have already left the Titanic, must be willing to uphold those who are seeking the will of God, the 'right way' to lead their charge into Glory, for these men, all of them, are the shepherds of the Church of God, responsible not only to God, but to their people as well, and charged with not only maintaining order and keeping intact the trust properties of generations of faithful Episcopalians (Anglicans), but also of preserving the faith, and leading the way to Canaan, out of the 'Wilderness of Sin'.
Pray for them NOW, and TOMORROW, and the DAY AFTER, and so on, und so vetter. They truly stand in the gap and must be upheld in their agony.
O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only Saviour, the Prince of Peace; Give us grace seriously to lay aside the great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions. Take away all hatred and prejudice, and whatsoever may hinder us from godly union and concord: that as there is but one Body and one Spirit, and one hope of our calling, one Lord, one Faith, one God and Father of us all, so may we be all of one heart and of one soul, united in one holy bond of truth and peace, of faith and charity, and may with one mind and one mouth glorify thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
For the unity of God's People -- BCP 1892
