Redeemer Family,

From time to time it’s appropriate for us to pause and remember that our young little parish here in Richmond is part of a much larger, much older network of churches called the Anglican Communion. This history of this larger body stretches back 500+ years to the Protestant Reformation and presently includes more than 85 million members.

Now, some of you will already know this, but I suspect many of you may not – the unity of the global Anglican Communion has been threatened for the past 25 years by unbiblical teaching and practice by some (not all) Provinces of the Communion (namely, the Church of the England and the Episcopal Church in the United States). These unbiblical teachings and practices include, but are not limited to, denial of the bodily resurrection of Jesus, denial of the authority of the Bible, and embracing of unorthodox practices of human sexuality and gender identity.

This has led to repeated warnings, cautionings, and rebukes from other Provinces (namely, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Uganda) that have been seeking to call these wayward Provinces back to historic biblical fidelity. These attempts have largely failed and, a few weeks ago, representatives from the majority of the Anglican Provinces all over the world met in Kigali, Rwanda to “reset the Communion.” This marks a fracture point in the Anglican Communion. It’s difficult to overstate how significant this is.

If you would like to more fully understand this, click on the following links, especially the first one:

Now, at the ground level, this does not change anything about the day-to-day operations of Redeemer. We continue to be grateful to be a part of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic as a part of the Anglican Church in North America. However, even though our regular rhythms of parish life are not disrupted by this, it still matters for the fellowship we share with our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world. We are not an independent congregation any more than we are independent Christians. We need each other and our interconnectedness with fellow followers of Jesus matters!

HOW TO RESPOND?

You might be wondering, is there any action item for me here? How do I respond to this? I think the healthiest and best way for us to respond to this is the way that I have seen so many of the faithful Bishops around the world respond:

With Humility - never for a moment believing that we are morally superior than those with whom we disagree.
With Repentance - remembering that we continue to need the mercy and grace of Jesus because we ourselves are sinners.
With Grief - lamenting the fracturing of unity.
With Prayer - continually beseeching the Lord to change the hearts of those who have turned away from Him.
With Confidence - knowing that even though we live in troubling, confusing, difficult times, we can be secure in our confidence in the Gospel found in Word of God revealed in scripture.
With Hope - trusting that, despite all our failings, the Lord Jesus has the power to work all things for the good of those who love Him.

Redeemer family, what a strange time to be alive; yet, this is the time that the Lord has given to us. Let’s be clear-eyed about the challenges of our secular age and let’s continue our journey through the wilderness, following the path laid for us by our Lord Jesus.

In the Father’s love,