The Church is moving prayerfully albeit cautiously. Bishop Wolfe has made it clear he will allow churches in our Diocese to use these new rites if and when they are approved. As happened when the church began racial integration and the ordination of women, this represents a change that will delight some and distress others. This proposed change profoundly touches on our theology of blessing and covenant, our theology of marriage, and how we understand and use the Bible as a resource for change.

"I have always believed that your parish should serve as a resource for and not a refuge from change. God alone is changeless. The church is a human institution that tries to understand the will of God. To help you and all our members better understand the proposed changes in the Episcopal Church, your clergy in consultation with the Bishop and with seminary professors and theologians, have prepared a study program to aide us.

"As your rector, I am taking the rare and unusual step in asking all St. Michael's members to participate in the six-session series at some point during the year. The purpose of my request is not to try to change your mind about whatever opinion you currently have, or to stir up debate, or even to try to come to a parish-wide consensus about blessing same-gender relationships.

That would not be possible nor is agreement even desirable. The Episcopal Church has always been a 'big tent' kind of place where a diversity of opinion is welcomed and community is valued not because we all think alike, but because we share a kinship Christ that transcends our differences. I want you to participate in these classes because we all need to develop the language and understanding for why the church is proposing such a change." Our curriculum will include:

* a biblical examination of covenant and blessing,
* a history and theology of marriage,
* a study of the scriptures that deal with homosexuality and gender, the appropriate role of the church in marriage, blessings, and other sacraments.

We are designing the course to be offered as multi-session classes taught by the clergy of St. Michael's (see the schedule below). We will also offer small group format that you can use with your friends in your homes or in a bible study. Change does not come with our permission, nor can it be ignored. But, the church can and should be a place where you can gain prayerful understanding and a helpful theological vocabulary for how the church is evolving. That is my hope for us as we gather to study together during this next year. I remain committed in my love for each of you and welcome your questions or concerns. Faithfully, Gail Greenwell+

VOL RESPONSE

The "big tent" of which Ms. Greenwell speaks, is now, of course, the "big lie". There is no big tent. The Diocese of Kansas has virtually no orthodox Episcopalians left in it. If you want to find any Episcopalians who are solidly orthodox in faith and practice then you have to go next door to the Diocese of Western Kansas, recently vacated by the Rt. Rev. James M. Adams. There you will find a number of orthodox Episcopalians. Diocese of Kansas Bishop Dean E. Wolf has absolutely no use for orthodox Episcopalians. His largest parish paid handsomely to leave TEC over the rejection of scripture's authority and pansexuality.

So right off the bat you need to know that Ms. Greenwell's position will be to follow her bishop who follows the vast majority of the HOB who follow PB Jefferts Schori, and we all know where that leads. Her position is tainted before it even begins.

Note this, "I have always believed that your parish should serve as a resource for and not a refuge from change. God alone is changeless. The church is a human institution that tries to understand the will of God."

That the church has been given a fixed rule of faith in Holy Scripture (does she believe in the authority and inspiration of Scripture?) and, therefore, the church is not given the liberty of changing its basic moral code and its absolute salvific message seems lost on Ms. Greenwell. The language of "human institution" is deliberately designed to say, albeit subtly, that we are human, the church is made up of humans, it can make mistakes and therefore to follow a changeless God is impossible (at times). As a result, we are left to flounder around and make up new rules to appease a small, highly vocal segment of people that demand admittance into the church on their terms, all the while saying and admitting that God is changeless. Fiat Lux.

Ms. Greenwell writes, "To help you and all our members better understand the proposed changes in the Episcopal Church, your clergy in consultation with the Bishop and with seminary professors and theologians, have prepared a study program to aide us."

Who exactly does she have in mind? Why liberal Episcopal Professor William Countryman at The Church Divinity School of the Pacific (an Episcopal seminary of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Calif.) of course. Will she allow THE book "Homosexuality and the Bible" by Dr. Robert Gagnon even to be considered? Not a chance. The Integrity organization will provide their resources of course as will the deep thinkers at Episcopal Divinity School, which has been completely overrun by pansexualists.

"Diversity of opinion" is about as welcome and truthful a statement as South Carolina Bishop Mark Lawrence is to the TEC House of Bishops. He can count on one hand the number of "welcoming" (a new Gay buzzword) bishops that will stand with him. Diversity of opinion was crushed a long time ago. The few in attendance at GC2012, who will stand up and oppose the passage of same sex rites, will be screamed at for being homophobic and worse by the Susan Russells of the church. Opposition is useless. The Gay Borg will absorb all.

So let's take a look at the parish's curriculum and how this will go:

* a biblical examination of covenant and blessing...,

VOL: Jesus said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." The keeping of the commandments (the conditions) of the covenant is the way we show God that we love Him. Without the keeping of the commandments of the covenant, there is NO display of commitment (love) to God. We have broken covenant. His justice requires us to either make restitution and/or reconciliation or else we break our relationship totally with God.

The covenant of marriage, which is really what Greenwell is talking about, is fixed. At the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female'. (Mark 10:6). God closed the sexual matrix and never reopened it. These people will be taught that new "covenants" can be made that make more sense to post-moderns in the 21st century than the first century (or earlier) and that God is moving with the times and so is the Episcopal Church. Nothing is fixed the people will be taught and God is forever changing His mind to keep up with more progressive thinking. Regrettably these folk will buy this nonsense and so the first seeds will be sown in preparation for General Convention.

* a history and theology of marriage,

VOL: They will be taught that yes, God was/is heterosexually inclined when He first instituted marriage and that is good for most people. BUT we have people in our midst who say they were born with a homosexual orientation and that they have needs, too; so the "theology of marriage" needs to include them. God, they will be taught, is an "inclusive God" who loves absolutely everybody, judges no one; so the church must adapt to the new reality and include a "theology of marriage" for them. Folk in the pews will nod their heads wisely and so more seeds are sown.

* a study of the scriptures that deal with homosexuality and gender, the appropriate role of the church in marriage, blessings, and other sacraments.

VOL: This is going to be a harder nut to crack because the seven instances where homosexuality is talked about in the Old and New Testaments vigorously opposes any and all sexual behavior outside of the confines of marriage between a man and a woman. However, the people of this parish will be subtly reminded that Jesus said nothing about homosexuality, (or bisexuality or transgendered or questioning or bestiality) and therefore his silence means consent. They will be taught that if Jesus were alive today (presuming of course that he LITERALLY rose from the dead), he would embrace homosexuals and the homosexual lifestyle out of his endless compassion for people and so should we. These folk will finally be told that the church already has a homosexual and a lesbian bishop, so it's a done deal. So, like the African American spiritual they will finally sing in loud voices: Get on board, little children Get on board, little children Get on board, little children There's room for many-a-more. QED

Everybody will have a cup of coffee and wisely nod their heads in assent. Ms Greenwell will smile a lot and know she has won.

Across the country this will be repeated hundreds of times in parishes great and small and the end result will be the same. Delegates will go to GC2012 and vote to approve provisional rites for same sex blessings at a cost of $10 million dollars. Louie, Vickie, Mary, Susan, et al will scream for joy. All the while the Episcopal Church will continue its plunge into the abyss.

Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which Jehovah God had made...

END