Mr. Eric L. Bergman, Executive Director
The St. Thomas More Society Scranton, Pennsylvania
2301 N. Washington Avenue
Scranton, Pennsylvania 18509
Holy Name, 2005
The Church of the Good Shepherd
1780 N. Washington Avenue
Scranton, Pennsylvania 18509
Dear Wardens, Vestrymen, and Parishioners of the Church of the Good Shepherd,
On Friday, December 31, 2004 I renounced my orders as a priest in the Episcopal Church USA. Prior to taking this step I contacted the Rt. Rev. Paul Marshall, Bishop of the Diocese of Bethlehem, to announce to him my intention. At that time Bishop Marshall asked that I indicate to you, the people of Good Shepherd, my reasons for my decision to end altogether my priestly ministry. This open letter is my attempt to answer questions those formerly entrusted to my care may have as to why I am taking what some of you consider to be such a drastic step.
The events that have unfolded within the Episcopal Church USA and across the worldwide Anglican Communion can certainly be understood to be a catalyst that precipitated action on my part. That is, the election of an unmarried and unchaste man to the office of bishop demands a response from the faithful, particularly when the institutional response on the part of the Anglican Communion to this innovation has been so feeble. Nevertheless, I now view the incidents of General Convention 2003 as the logical outcome of a flawed orientation that betrays the Anglican Communion’s ability to proclaim the Good News, especially that truth that life comes to us through sacrifice. It is this orientation, ensconced in the teachings of the Anglican Communion for the past 74 years, that finally led me to renounce my orders.
I can trace my disillusionment with the Episcopal Church USA to an event that took place long before I was born, the implications of which, however, have only recently come to fruition. At the Lambeth Conference in 1930 the Anglican Communion approved the use of contraception for married couples. Most Protestant denominations soon followed suit, and the widespread use of contraception over the succeeding three generations has fostered an attitude among many in the West that conceives of children to be a burden to be avoided rather than a blessing to be welcomed. This contraceptive mentality has so compromised Anglicanism, by separating in the minds of many the marital act from its purpose, that sexual relations that are intentionally sans fecundity are viewed as not only legitimate but godly. When an ecclesial community pronounces intentional sterility among married couples to be blessed by God, that church all but formally invites into her midst the advocacy of blessings upon relationships that in the absence of sexual complementarity are of their very essence sterile. Those conservatives within Anglicanism who attempt to refute the sterile agenda of the homosexual lobby, while through their use and support of contraceptive practices participate in that agenda, have engaged in a self-contradictory and thus futile quest. Until a future Lambeth Conference repents of the error of 1930 and again upholds the eternal truth about God’s intent for sexual relations within the covenant of marriage, my conservative Anglican brethren will lack the theological capital to roll back the recent advances of the innovators. In renouncing my orders I have simply chosen to withdraw from the battle currently raging across the Anglican Communion, because I cannot have at my disposal the weaponry required to win the fight, as it was decommissioned four decades before my birth.
This contraceptive mentality that understands children to be a burden instead of a blessing has only encouraged the social acceptance of the abhorrent practice of abortion, the legalization of which the Episcopal Church USA has advocated for since at least General Convention 1967. I must admit that as late as five years ago I did not apprehend the connection between the use of contraception and the slaughter of the unborn, or the manner in which the widespread use of the former invariably issues in the dramatically increased incidence of the latter. Moreover, all the faithful agree that the promise of life is ours because Jesus offered 100 percent of Himself for our redemption. I am certain with all my heart that if Christian marriages are to be an accurate reflection of the love between Christ and His Church the least we must expect of our married couples is that spouses offer 100 percent of themselves to each other, and that even as we struggle with our failures the Church still stands for what is right. By His great grace and kindness our Lord has cured me of my former spiritual blindness and thus has compelled me to seek entry into, and full communion with, that part of Christ’s Body the Church that continues to engage the moral issues of our day at their most foundational level.
To summarize plainly, I have renounced my orders in the Episcopal Church in order that I may be received into the Roman Catholic Church as a layman and thus begin the process that will hopefully culminate in my ordination as a Roman Catholic priest. Should Jesus desire that I fulfill the sacramental ministry within the Catholic Church, I look forward with the full support of my wife, Kristina, to being an example and pastor to those striving to live into the fullness of the Church’s teaching with regard to the matters discussed above. But if it be the Lord’s will that I remain a layman we shall happily serve as foot soldiers for the Truth within an institution whose leaders have consistently articulated the implications of removing from Love the necessary sacrifices that give this gift His Name. In the meantime I will serve as the Executive Director of the St. Thomas More Society Scranton, Pennsylvania, organized recently to implement in the Diocese of Scranton the Pastoral Provision of Pope John Paul II.
My passion for this fundamental truth may come as a shock to you who have loved my family and me so dearly these last 64 months. Be assured that my conviction has only been strengthened by the depth of the love shown to me, and the only worthy response I can offer that sacrifice is to proclaim that Truth that will issue in the fullness of this life and life eternal in the age to come. I only regret that we must be parted, if only for a time, in order that I can make that proclamation without being contradicted by the leadership and the doctrine of the Church I serve.
Know, also, that you continue in my prayers as I make supplication to God for His blessings upon all of you during this time of transition.
Affectionately and gratefully yours,