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WE, CONCERNED MEMBERS OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE OF MARYLAND, HEREBY PRAYERFULLY SUBMIT THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT OF CONSCIENCE:

That the historic teaching of the Episcopal Church is that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments contain "all things necessary to salvation" (the Articles of Religion), and are "the revealed Word of God" (Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral, 1886) and "the rule and ultimate standard of faith" (Lambeth Quadrilateral, 1888);

That the 74th General Convention of the Episcopal Church, continuing its drift away from the authority of Scripture, has erred by knowingly consenting to the election as a Bishop a man openly engaged in an active homosexual relationship and by giving tacit approval to the "blessing" of same-sex unions in the passage of Resolution CO51, thus denying that the only proper expression of the God-given gift of sexual intimacy is within the bonds of Holy Matrimony between one man and one woman;

That the Bishops of the Diocese of Maryland, in consenting and acceding to these actions and continuing to defend and promote them, have failed in their calling to "guard the faith, unity, and discipline of the whole Church" (BCP 855);

That these actions go against the clearly and firmly expressed resolutions of the Anglican Communion by the Lambeth Conference of 1998 and subsequent requests of the Primates in 2003;

That we ourselves are sinfully complicit in and bear responsibility for these and other errors by our own past failures to declare openly and live into the essential tenets of the Christian Faith, thereby encouraging others to advance these errors;

And that were we to remain silent in the face of these matters we would give the appearance of condoning these actions.

Therefore, although we recognize the canonical authority of our bishops, we must state humbly and with regret that, until such time as they repent of their positions regarding the acceptability of ordaining persons who are not celibate in their sexual behavior outside of the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, and forbid the "blessing" of same-sex unions in this Diocese, a severely strained relationship exists between us.

Furthermore, we will pray diligently for the Church, our Bishops, our Diocese, and all persons confused as to the truth of the Scriptures and the teaching of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church, that the Holy Spirit will enlighten the darkness that now afflicts us.

We now rededicate ourselves to our Lord Jesus' Great Commission given in Matthew 28:19-20, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you".

In the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord.


For information on this Statement, please contact one of the following designated point parishes:

Church of the Ascension, Westminster
410-848-3251

All Saints Church, Reiserstown
410-833-0700

St. Timothy's Catonsville
410-747-6690

Holy Cross Church, Baltimore
410-362-2728

Christ Church, Port Republic
410-586-0565

Los Tres Santos Reyes, Catonsville
410-747-6690

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Introductory remarks made by Dan Muth before his reading of the above document at the Convention of the Diocese of Maryland, May 8, 2004, in Hunt Valley, Baltimore:

First of all, we'd like to thank our Bishops for their generosity and kindness in allowing us time to publicly read what is for us a painful and difficult Statement of Conscience.

Starting this past Fall, vestry members from upwards of fourteen congregations began meeting for prayer and fellowship. With the majority of the world's Christian leadership, we share a common concern that the well-intentioned but controversial actions of last summer's General Convention were in error. In time, we determined that, as silence would indicate tacit approval, it would be necessary to develop and disseminate a Statement of Conscience opposing certain specific actions of General Convention and our Diocesan leadership's support of them. The purpose of the statement is threefold:

* to encourage those who share our dissent and to let them know that they are
not alone;

* to exhort our diocesan leadership to re-think their position;

* and to reassure the Church's leaders world-wide that there are lay leaders and
clergy in Maryland who share their concern, accept their authority, and intend
to remain in full communion with them.

We met recently with our Bishops, who were gracious in their reception of the Statement, albeit clear in their disagreement with much of it. We do not expect all here to agree with or approve of the following statement. Indeed, we suspect it likely that among our greatest areas of disagreement is the extent of the disagreement, which we believe to be a fundamental dispute over the nature of Divine Revelation. We did not choose this issue and we are not spoiling for a fight with anyone. We intend to remain engaged and involved in our parishes and diocese - and in the world-wide Anglican Communion. And we pray that our Lord will unite us all in His Truth, who is Himself the Truth.

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