Vestry Resolution of Allegiance
Holy Trinity Episcopal Church
We of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, Fruitland Park, declare that we are brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ and believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord. In our conversations we have discovered that we are quite diverse in our opinions regarding the confirmation to the episcopate of Gene Robinson. The life and ministries of this congregation expect not only to continue but also to thrive even in the midst of this diversity. Many are struggling and in pain over this decision, some because of the decision itself and some because of the potential impairment of communion within not only the American church but with some members of the Anglican Communion.
Whereas, the vestry of Holy Trinity is firmly committed to seeing this crisis through within the embrace of the Foreign and Domestic Missionary Society, commonly called the Episcopal Church in the United States (ECUSA) under the leadership of the Presiding Bishop, The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold. We will remain in communion with all dioceses and provinces of the worldwide Anglican Communion under the See of Canterbury.
Resolved, we of Holy Trinity commend that all of us, both individually and corporately within the Diocese of Central Florida, be proponents of reconciliation, peacemakers in the midst of crisis, healers in the midst of pain, bearers of Christ to all the world. We believe that continuing to he a part of the body of the Episcopal Church in the United States is the Godly way to represent the unity of God in the world.
Statement
We, the people of the Episcopal Church in Central Florida, acknowledge our allegiance due to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of Christ and recognize the body known as the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America otherwise known as the Episcopal Church, to be a true branch of said Church, having rightful jurisdiction in all its dioceses, and hereby declare our adhesion to the same and accede to its Constitution and Canons.
We do not accede to any actions, efforts, letters or resolutions by Central Florida's diocesan leadership or its conventions which seeks to disassociate us further from the Episcopal Church, the actions and authority of General Convention, or from the fellowship of the Anglican Communion.
We commit ourselves to build up of the Body of Christ and, as the Windsor Report asks, seek ways of reconciliation, and to heal our divisions in the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida. We will worship together, stay in community with each other, care for our neighbors and in love, follow Jesus, who was and is the perfect expression of love in the world.