Dear Bishop Shaw,

We rejoice that the Holy Spirit, operative through voices of over 80% of the bishops of the Anglican Communion gathered at Lambeth this past summer, overwhelmingly affirmed that Scripture is the ultimate rule of Faith and that overwhelmingly affirmed that Scripture is the ultimate rule of Faith and that the divinely ordained place of sexual intimacy is within the monogamous covenant of Holy Matrimony between a man and a woman. Furthermore, it was affirmed that ordaining practicing homosexuals and blessing same sex unions could not be either advised or approved by the Bishops of the Anglican Communion. It was likewise affirmed that since we are a Church of sinners, we who are being redeemed by the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ must show care to all our brothers and sisters who are in sexual bondage, be that heterosexual or homosexual bondage. We must minister to them by proclaiming the Good News that Jesus Christ can and will forgive all our transgressions and liberate us from our bondage to any and all sin when we truly surrender our lives to Him and the Power of His Spirit. We praise the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit for giving Anglicans of the world, including those of us at Holy Trinity, such a clear reaffirmation of the Truth about God's intentions for our use of the gift of human sexuality.

As you know, we at Church of the Holy Trinity have been quite distressed over your failure to preach and teach the Good News of the Lord's transforming Power which can heal our brothers and sisters who struggle with homosexual desires and lifestyles. Likewise, we have been horrified by your sanctioning the blessing of same-sex unions by clergy in the diocese of Massachusetts and your having knowingly ordained active homosexual clergy since being made diocesan bishop. We have been especially appalled over the fact that the priest you chose to head up our diocesan youth ministry is an active homosexual man. It is for these that we have been in a state of broken communion with you and have not been able to recognize your ministry as a bishop of the one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Faith for almost two years now.

Hoping and praying that your heart and mind can and will be converted to the Lord on the other side of His Holy Spirit having spoken so clearly through the voices of the Bishops of the Anglican Communion this past summer, we write to you to urge you to comply with the guidelines put forth by the Bishops of the Anglican Communion regarding homosexuality. We beseech you, once again, on behalf of the people of this diocese to repent and allow the Lord to touch your heart and mind with His healing forgiveness and mercy. Please allow Him to bring your will into union with His Divine Will so that the Truth of the Gospel may once again flourish in the hearts and minds of the people of the diocese of Massachusetts, making us a beacon in the midst of a American culture which is totally confused about the meaning of human sexuality.

Specifically, we call upon you to do the following:

1. Openly declare to the people of this diocese that you will abide by the dictates put forth by the Bishops of the Anglican Communion in the Lambeth Conference Resolution on "Human Sexuality" passed on August 5, 1998
2. Require the active homosexual persons that you have ordained or whom you have permitted to function as priests in this diocese to abstain from homosexual activity and seek the Lord's forgiveness and healing.
3. Remove the active homosexual priest who oversees our diocesan youth ministry from his position of influence over the youth of this diocese until such time as he has experienced the Lord's healing of his sexuality, agreeing to remain celibate, unless he enters into the covenant of Holy Matrimony as the scriptures describe this covenant.
4. Require that the clergy of this diocese abstain from blessing any more same-sex unions and lead those active homosexual persons entrusted to their care to seek the Lord's forgiveness and healing.

Since we at the Church of the Holy Trinity have known and continue to know the Lord's healing and redemptive power in our sinful lives and in the lives of many of our loved ones, we not only call upon you to return to the Lord but recommit ourselves to abiding by the teachings of the 1998 Lambeth Conference regarding human sexuality. We know that this means that if any among us sins in the sexual area of our lives, we too must seek the Lord's forgiveness and bear fruits worthy of repentance with the help of His Grace. We openly recommit ourselves to doing this.

Furthermore, we reaffirm That we cannot be in communion with you and accept your ministry as a bishop of the one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church until and unless you whole heartedly and earnestly repent, bearing the fruits of repentance as outlined above. If there is no movement toward repentance on your part by the end of this calendar year, we will give the monies set aside for our diocesan assessment to ministries in the larger Anglican Communion which are faithful to the Lord, His Truth, and His Redeeming Work.

We look forward to hearing from you. Continually praying for your conversion and repentance, we remain your sisters and brothers in the Lord.

Sincerely,

The Rev Judith Marie Gentle-Hardy, Rector
Linda Markey brooks, Senior Warden
Donald C. Richards, Junior Warden

Concurred in: Members of the Vestry

• Return to Louie Crew's collection of materials on the Lambeth Conferenc e.
• Louie Crew's Anglican pages.
• Louie Crew's home page.
• Send mail to: lcrew@newark.rutgers.edu

Please sign my guestbook and view it.

Statistics courtesy of WebCounter.