st. andrew's day statement (1995)

w/in the last few minutes i forwarded a copy of an email i received from one of the priests in my home parish, christ church of hamilton & wenham (mass.), mother martha giltinan. i do not doubt that some of those who receive my email will disagree w/ portions of what i forwarded, the "st. andrew's day statement" penned in 1995 by priests, academics, educators, and a former bishop of doncaster. i choose to link this statement as it appears on the least divisive of the sites where i found it through google, b/c it no doubt will raise issues w/ some of you who read my weblog, as well.

i haven't written about homosexuality in this forum before, and the st. andrew's day statement is, as i understand it, about more than homosexuality. i have only been an episcopalian for a couple of years, and it seems that just as i fell in love w/ my church, the issue of scriptural authority, especially as it pertains to homosexuality, began to tear @ the very fabric of the ecusa. i have struggled (and continue to do so) w/ this issue, reading scripture and essays and articles from both sides of the current debate. i sincerely do not want schism, and my family has thrown our lot in w/ the people that we feel called to serve, episcopalians in new england that need to hear the transforming message of the gospel of jesus christ. i admit to having no clear answers to all my questions (i think i have found some ground on which to stand, but i won't air all that in this post). suffice it to say that, as i wrote in my response to mother martha's email, if i am able, through god's grace, to remain faithful to this statement as i pursue holy orders in the episcopal church, i am almost certain that i will be more apt to hear the words "well done, my good and faithful servant," than if i chose any other path or preached any other gospel.

my family and i covet all your prayers.
~ sammy
23 april 2004
feast of st. george, martyr, protector of the kingdom of england