Megaparish affirms the Covenant

From The Living Church-

The vestry of St. Martin’s Church in Houston, Texas — the largest congregation in the Episcopal Church — unanimously affirmed the Anglican Communion Covenant on June 15.

The Rev. Dr. Russell J. Levenson, Jr., rector of St. Martin’s, is on the advisory committee of Communion Partners. He said St. Martin’s does not plan to urge other parishes to take similar actions, but “If somebody asks, we’ve been willing to share the resolution.”

“We just wanted to say — as a growing, thriving parish — that we’re fine with the Covenant, and we’re glad to live within its parameters,” Fr. Levenson told The Living Church.

St. Martin’s, founded in 1952, began experiencing explosive growth during the tenure of its second rector, the Rev. Claude E. Payne, who was elected Bishop of Texas in 1993. The parish now has nearly 8,500 baptized members and more than 6,000 communicants, Fr. Levenson said.

“We don’t issue resolutions or statements very often,” Fr. Levenson said. “We are very intentional about staying engaged with people who disagree with us.”

Fr. Levenson said St. Martin’s clergy do not preach on conflicts.

“Many people are drawn, to use C.S. Lewis’s term, to mere Christianity,” he said.

Fr. Levenson sees St. Martin’s ministry as rooted in the Great Commission: a stained-glass window honors that cultural mandate, and the parish pulpit will soon bear the engraved text of 1 Cor. 2:2 (“For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified”).

“What draws people in, and it always has, is the gospel of Jesus Christ,” Fr. Levenson said. “That’s what feeds the human heart.”

http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2010/6/23/megaparish-affirms-the-covenant