Bishop Lee, Please Defend the Faith Entrusted to the Saints

December 16, 2006

My local church, like several others in Virginia, convened last Sunday to vote on whether to disaffiliate with the Episcopal Church.  The call to consider walking apart, as I understand it, was precipitated by the denominational leaders’ unrepentant abandonment of Scripture as the supreme authority for life.  Twenty-four hours from now, we should know the results of the vote.

Speaking of the prospect of losing 17% of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia’s Sunday attendance, Bishop Peter James Lee said, in an interview with the Washington Times:

The diocese owns their property.  . . .  It was developed by generations of people who were faithful Episcopalians and who are buried with these churches. We have a fiduciary responsibility not to let a current generation of leaders -- who are mistaken -- to take away the property of the church.  [But] I do not want to go to court if we can avoid that.

I pray that Bishop Lee would “stand firm” (1 Corinthians 16:13) and “contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints” (Jude 3) with at least as much conviction as he seems to have concerning his fiduciary responsibility to care for church real estate.

UPDATE:  The congregation of The Falls Church voted 1,228 to 120 to sever denominational ties with the Episcopal Church and Diocese of Virginia.  (Press Release)