Roper refers to the Aug. 5, 2003, consecration of Gene Robinson, then 56, as bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire. ECUSA’s House of Bishops voted (62 to 43, with two abstentions) in Minneapolis to consecrate Robinson, an openly homosexual priest. Many Anglicans, especially those outside the U.S., called Robinson’s consecration a violation of Biblical teaching. ECUSA’s reported 2.3 million members are part of 70-80 million Anglicans spread throughout 160 countries.

Father Tom Parsons, newly called to serve as priest at Christ Church-Anglican, says he and his wife Sandra are familiar with ECUSA problems.

“Like a lot of people who are anguishing over this situation here and across the country, we’ve been there and done that,” he says. “It is a test of your faith.”

Parsons, 64, was raised as a Methodist in Oakley, Kan., until his father moved his mother, his younger sister and him to Minnesota.

“He worked for Seymore Packing Company,” Parsons says. “They bought and sold poultry, cream and eggs. I was about eight or nine when we moved.”

Parsons’ family began attending an Episcopal church where he served as an acolyte and was confirmed.

He played football, basketball, track, golf and tennis in high school and at the College of Emporia (a Kansas Presbyterian college, now closed) where he majored in chemistry and math. He began graduate work at Rice University but decided he was “not cut out to be a research chemist.”

After joining the U.S. Marines in 1963, Parsons attended flight school at Pensacola, Fla., where he met and married “Sandy” Yerby.

“I got my wings in ’64, went to the west coast in the late fall of 1964 (MCAS El Toro, south of Los Angeles) and eight months later (Aug. 1965), I was in sunny Southeast Asia,” he says.

Parsons spent 12 of his 14 months in South Vietnam with HMM 361, a helicopter unit.

“You get shot at pretty regularly as a helicopter pilot,” he says. “You get to the point where you only think about that once the day’s terror is over. We flew strike, recon insert, resupply and medevac missions. My faith helped me accept whatever God had planned for me.”

After five years in the Marines, Parsons exited as a captain and worked as a salesman, selling split-fund pensions before joining Pfizer’s chemical division. He worked for American Hospital Supply and then ran his own business, selling school and hospital equipment.

He became more and more active in church, “working with youth, teaching Sunday school.”

He and his wife left the Episcopal Church in 1985.

“We probably should have left earlier,” Parsons says, adding that a non-biblical trend in ECUSA goes back to the 1930s. “Things foment below the surface — the people in the pews don’t realize what’s happening — and they seemingly suddenly break out at a convention. I could see it (liberal theological leanings) in the seminaries.”

All Anglican churches “are children” of the Church of England, he notes.

“When the British Empire conquered the world, they took the church and the prayer book with them,” he says. “So there were Anglican churches everywhere the British flag flew. And they began to form national churches under the loose confederation called ‘The Anglican Communion.’”

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the nominal, titular head of the church, and the Episcopal Church of the United States of America, or ECUSA, is one of those national churches under that Anglican umbrella, he explains.

Parsons says the term “Anglican” indicates a church’s roots are in the Church of England. The term “Episcopal” indicates a church “that has ‘bishops.’” The Episcopal Church (ECUSA) is the name of the largest Anglican group in the U.S., but smaller groups in the U.S. have formed under the “Anglican” banner.

After leaving the Episcopal Church, Parsons and his wife began attending St. Stephen’s Anglican Church in Athens, Ga. His bishop later approached him, asking if he would consider becoming a priest.

After serious consideration, Parsons consented, spending one year in independent study when he was 52 years old. He next spent one year in residency at Holy Rood Seminary in Liberty, N.Y. (the seminary is now located in Richmond, Va.) and one year serving a “practicum” under a supervisory priest. After his 1994 ordination in Athens, Ga., Parsons filled various ministerial positions (Georgia, Alabama and Virginia) before moving to Pinehurst to retire in 2003.

“We came here on a golf package in 1976,” he says. “We’ve been members of the Pinehurst Country Club since 1978. I wondered if God was really done with me. When you retire, God doesn’t necessarily buy into it.”

Christ Church-Anglican uses the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.

“The 1979 prayer book updated the language but also changed the theology,” Parsons says. “We use the King James Version of the Bible, although the Revised Standard Version is acceptable.

“I see a mission for orthodox Anglicans as a faithful remnant. Christ Church stands for the uncompromising gospel of Jesus Christ. The secularist-humanist world is making inroads into churches not holding fast to the Bible as the inspired word of God. We believe the teachings of the New Testament to be the guide for Christian morality and believe the ancient creeds of the church mean what they say. Heresy is much worse than schism.”

Christ Church-Anglican meets each Sunday for Holy Eucharist at 11:30 a.m. at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 35 McLean Road (behind The Carolina ), Pinehurst.

“The church is provisionally under Bishop Robert Waggener of the Diocese of the Holy Cross, headquartered in Birmingham, Ala.,” Parsons says. “There are about 25 parishes under his jurisdiction.”

END