Pastor Urges Episcopalians to Shun Their 'Church of Anti-Christ'
by Jim Brown and Jody Brown
November 7, 2003
(AgapePress) - A best-selling Christian author and pastor is encouraging believers to separate themselves from the Episcopal Church.
On Sunday, November 2, the Episcopal Church USA consecrated a homosexual man, Vicki Gene Robinson, as bishop of New Hampshire. The ceremony was the culmination of months of heated debate within ECUSA over Robinson's election to the post -- and likely the catalyst to what the worldwide leaders of the Anglican Communion have stated will put the unity of their denomination "in jeopardy" and "tear the fabric of the communion at its deepest level." The denomination also allows same-sex "blessing" ceremonies.
Dr. John MacArthur is pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, a best-selling author, and host of the worldwide radio program "Grace to You." (http://www.gty.org) Regarding the recent steps taken by the Episcopal Church, MacArthur minces no words, saying the church is not the Church of Jesus Christ but "the church of Anti-Christ. The denomination, he says, should be shunned because of its unbiblical actions.
"This is not the true Church. Their theology is aberrant, their conduct is aberrant, and they engage themselves in things that are utterly ungodly and unbiblical," MacArthur says. "I think you have to see it as the church of Anti-Christ -- and why would a believer want to be a part of the church of Anti-Christ?"
MacArthur admits he was not surprised to see the Episcopal Church consecrate an openly homosexual bishop. He says for years the denomination has reinvented the gospel.
"Their view of Christ is apostate, therefore their view of everything else is warped and twisted. So this is no stretch for them; this is normal conduct for an organization that is opposed to Jesus Christ and the Word of God," he says. "If anybody in it [the Episcopal Church] is a true believer, they need to get out."
MacArthur says Christians should heed the Apostle Paul's warning to the Corinthians when he told them not to be "unequally yoked together with unbelievers" in any spiritual enterprise. In his recent book Hard to Believe, the author-pastor confronts man-centered theology being promoted in many evangelical churches.
'Provision of Episcopal Oversight'
The day following Robinson's consecration, Anglican leaders representing more than 50 million Anglicans worldwide stated succinctly and officially they will not recognize the office or the ministry of the New Hampshire bishop. The primates of the "Global South" -- theologically conservative Anglican provinces in the southern hemisphere -- said Sunday's consecration ceremony "clearly demonstrates that authorities within ECUSA consider that their cultural-based agenda is of far greater importance than obedience to the Word of God."
Saying they no longer have confidence in the American contingent of the Anglican Communion, the Global South primates urged Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams to guarantee what the denomination calls "adequate provision of episcopal oversight" for disgruntled parishes and clergy within ECUSA.
The American Anglican Council says with the Archbishop's encouragement, its Bishops' Committee on Adequate Episcopal Oversight has begun doing just that. The AAC is coordinating requests from parishes that "remain committed to the historic faith" and desire oversight from "bishops who maintain biblical theological integrity." The AAC says such requests will be treated as confidential, and that no copies need to be sent to the Archbishop, ECUSA Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold -- who presided at Robinson's consecration -- or the diocese's local bishop.
