LETTER OF PARISHIONERS TO DIOCESAN STANDING COMMITTEE AND BISHOP

May 2, 2004

The Rev. Henry Pease, President, Standing Committee The Rev. W. Nicholas Knisley, Vice-Chair, Diocesan Council The Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem Diocesan House 333 Wyandotte Street Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015

Gentlemen:

This letter is offered in response to your letter dated April 23, 2004 and received by a number of our parishioners. The Rector has distributed copies to other parishioners who were omitted from your mailing. In addition, our Rector and Curate have shared Bishop Marshall's letters to them together with their responses.

We are aware that our Vestry has informed Diocesan Council of their decision to redirect funding from the diocese to orthodox, local, national, and international organizations and ministries. We note that this action took place only after the decisions of the 74th General Convention supported by the leadership of the Diocese of Bethlehem.

Your comments regarding our movement away from participation in the Diocese of Bethlehem and the Episcopal Church USA are interesting in light of the fact that it is you who have imperiled our relationship with the worldwide Anglican Communion. The 74th General Convention has rejected the declaration of the bishops at the 1998 Lambeth Conference, the counsel of the Primates of the Anglican Communion, and the appeal of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

You ask if our parish leadership is, "willing to live within the traditional understanding of what makes a church 'Episcopal.'" Please be reminded that our leadership never said we were leaving the Episcopal Church. Yet, we wonder if the diocesan leadership is willing to live within the traditional understanding of what makes the Episcopal Church USA a member of the Anglican Communion? Indeed, does the Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem consider itself to be part of the Anglican Communion? If so, we would ask why you have chosen to persecute our parish before the publication of the Eames Report?

You write, "Suggestions by the leadership of your parish that the current problem is about homosexuality or the ordination of a gay bishop seem little more than attempts to distract from the matter at hand, etc." Herein lies the major reason our leadership is reluctant to enter into conversation with diocesan representatives. Please don't tell us we are lying to you about what we believe the problem to be. On August 19, 2003 the overwhelming majority of our parishioners signed and forwarded to diocesan leadership A Statement of Repudiation and Disassociation From the Actions of the 74th General Convention of the Episcopal Church. Trust us when we tell you that we reaffirm our belief that sexuality is inherent in God's creation of every human being in His image as male and female. All Christians are called to chastity: husbands and wives by exclusive sexual fidelity to one another and single persons by abstinence from sexual relations. God intends and enables all people to live within these boundaries, with the help and in the fellowship of the Church.

When there arise within the Church at any level tendencies, pronouncements, and practices contrary to biblical, classical Anglican doctrinal and moral standards, we must not and will not support them. The Church has no authority to ordain anything contrary to God's Word written. If there is to be communication between us in the future you must accept our definition of the problem.

You go on to say, "The Episcopal Church does not focus on beliefs held by individual members." Our experience of Christian Community here at St. Stephen's is contrary to your statement. The leadership of our parish actively encourages members to make their beliefs known as together we seek to make decisions consistent with the mind of Christ. As an example we cite that on this day a special parish meeting was called by our Rector and Vestry to obtain the viewpoints of all relative to the questions asked of our Vestry in your letter. Our question to you is, why aren't the beliefs of individual members important to you? Weren't they important to the Apostles?

The Parishioners of St. Stephen's, Whitehall affirm the Faith of the Church as it is set forth in the Nicene and Apostles' Creeds and in the classical Prayer Book tradition. We believe that the Holy Scripture is superior to the canons. We join you in prayer for unity which as our Rector wrote to Bishop Marshall, "must be grounded in the teachings of Jesus Christ and His Apostles."

Sincerely yours,

The Parishioners of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Whitehall, Pennsylvania

CC: The Rt. Rev. Paul V. Marshall