In the June 15th edition of the Living Church Dean Morrison of Bexley Hall stated that many churches in the diocese of California (specifically San Francisco) were no longer using the Nicene Creed on Sundays. Some of them with the expressed permission of the Bishop. Below is the response from the Diocese of California's communication officer. Morrison's claim are another example of the way the truth gets distorted to make the Episcopal Church look bad. Sean sent me a copy of his letter which is not available on the LC web site and unfortunately neither is the original article.
I read with astonishment the letter written by John E. Morrison [TLC, June 15], in which he reported that (the Very Rev. Dr.) John Kevern, Dean of Bexley Hall, had stated “that 12 parishes in San Francisco do not use the Nicene Creed on Sundays -- some with episcopal permission.”
There are 13 parishes in the city of San Francisco. If the statement were true only one of our parishes would recite the Nicene Creed. I have now called nine of the thirteen and of those, two told me that they did not say the creed on Sunday and seven said they say it every Sunday. The two told me that they had not received episcopal permission to omit it.
At last year’s clergy conference, Bishop Andrus told the clergy that there were two congregations that he knew of not saying the Creed on some Sundays. He said it was his wish that all churches in the diocese recite the Nicene Creed at every celebration of the Eucharist as an act of catholicity and communion with our sister churches throughout the Anglican world. When I told Andrus of Kevern’s claim, he told me that he has never given permission not to use the Creed.
So, why is it that a seminary dean would report an untruth to a conference in such a public way, and why is it that a member of the clergy would repeat an unsubstantiated claim in order to make a larger point? And why is it that some members of The Episcopal Church and her seminaries seem to think that it is perfectly fine to operate within the confines of a culture of lies in order to make their points against a culture that elevates women, works to eliminate poverty, and respects the dignity of every human being? Which of these two cultures is closer to the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
Sean McConnell Communications Officer Episcopal Diocese of California
1 comment:
So. Two parishes never say the Creed, four parishes sometimes say the Creed and seven parishes always say the Creed. Is this not a high enough average to make the Good News file?
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