Light for a Dark Day

An interdenominational pastoral association in New Hampshire has humbly offered the following set of resolutions to the church at large:

We, the Evangelical Ministers Fellowship of Strafford County, New Hampshire, in support of the many recently disenfranchised members of the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire, solemnly affirm the following, quoting from the Episcopalian New English Bible:

I. On Authority: “Every scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, . . . that the person dedicated to God may be capable and equipped for every good work.” II Timothy 3:16-17

II. On Christ’s Representatives: “The bishop then must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, an apt teacher,” I Timothy 3:2

III. On Righteousness: “and likewise the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed in their passions for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.” Romans 1:27

IV. On Penalties: “and if he turned to ashes the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah when he condemned them to destruction, having appointed them to serve as an example to future generations of the ungodly,” II Peter 2:6

V. On the Future: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! The sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, passive homosexual partners, practicing homosexuals, . . . thieves, the greedy, drunkards, the verbally abusive, and swindlers will not inherit the kingdom of God.” I Corinthians 6:9-10

With a firm reliance on the protection of the Triune God, we, the undersigned members of the Evangelical Ministers Fellowship of Strafford County, New Hampshire, on the authority of the Holy Scriptures, grieve the planned consecration of V. Gene Robinson as Bishop in the Episcopal Church and commit to a posture of repentance before God. We pray for the many church members that will no longer have a true shepherd. May they hear the voice of the Good Shepherd who gave His life for His sheep.