Christ Church San Antonio Acts, Writes Bishop of West Texas

West Texas Bishop Gary Lillibridge’s slowness to do much of anything in response to the General Conventions of ’03 and ’06 may be becoming more than some of his parishes can endure.

The vestry of the prominent parish of Christ Church San Antonio has written a very polite, patient, yet pointed letter to the bishop. The money paragraph:

In a unanimous vote, the clergy and vestry of Christ Church and Christ Church in the Hill Country affirm our commitment to Jesus Christ, to the authority of Holy Scripture, and to that which binds us to our Anglican heritage. As a consequence, when the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates offer us an acceptable option, we will disassociate from the Episcopal Church. We feel that we must do this because we believe The Episcopal Church has left the Anglican Communion, and us, and now no longer lives under the authority of the Bible. It is our firm intent to continue our membership in the Anglican Communion and in covenant relationship with the Archbishop of Canterbury with constituent member status. We sincerely hope that we can do this with the support and in partnership with our diocese.

Note the statement that they are waiting for acceptable options from the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates. The omission of the Bishop of West Texas in that sentence speaks volumes. In other words, they are seeking an acceptable way to disassociate from the Episcopal Church and stay in the Anglican Communion with or without +Lillibridge, although they certainly express the hope that the bishop will be supportive.

I’m not in contact with Christ Church, but I suspect GC ’06 and +Lillibridge’s missives afterwords prompted the parish to see it’s time to act, with or without the bishop’s leadership or support.

If I'm not mistaken, Christ Church is the largest parish in the diocese. So this is significant.


UPDATE: Accht! I forgot to link the letter. Now I have. Also, A helpful reader points us to these timely and recent comments from Christ Church's Rector, Chuck+ Collins.