Denominations' Reformers State Support for Federal Marriage Amendment
by Jim Brown
March 26, 2004
(AgapePress) - Reform leaders in churches that typically have been weak in defending the institution of marriage have issued a statement supporting the Federal Marriage Amendment. One of those leaders -- a life-long Episcopalian -- is also cheering the recent defiant actions of some Ohio congregations in her denomination.
The statement was put out by conservative activists in mainline Protestant denominations, and argues it is necessary for American society to maintain the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. The statement was signed by conservative Episcopalians, United Methodists, members of the Presbyterian Church USA, United Church of Christ, and other leaders in mainline denominations.One of the document's signers is Diane Knippers, who heads the Institute on Religion and Democracy. She says the signers want their churches to hold fast to historical Christian teaching. "But even more basically, we want to argue that marriage is the primary, essential institution of civil society, and it is in fact the most universal institution," she explains.
"The idea of marriage between a man and a woman is recognized across all cultures and across history -- and we think that our nation will abandon that model at its peril."
Although the group supports legal measures to protect the centuries-old institution, Knippers says the statement did not address the issue of "civil unions" for homosexuals.
"I think that most of the reformed leaders would think that civil unions is not a good idea; that obviously this is something that will be fought out in the states across the country," Knippers says, "but we believe that it also would chip away at the basic idea of marriage."
Knippers says the reform leaders represent the majority of people in mainline Protestant denominations, and believe same-sex marriage is a "trendy mistake" to which many churches have fallen captive.
That is why the life-long Episcopalian is praising six Episcopalian congregations in Ohio for not following another "trendy mistake" and, instead, taking a stand against the denomination's appointment of an openly homosexual bishop.
Kudos for Ohio Groups
The traditionalist Episcopalian congregations in the Buckeye State recently took part in a confirmation service with six conservative bishops who did not have permission from the Diocese of Ohio. The confirmations, conducted in an Eastern Orthodox church near Akron, were in defiance of Bishop J. Clark Grew of Cleveland, who voted in favor of homosexual bishop Vicki Gene Robinson, now the bishop for the Diocese of New Hampshire. The hierarchy of the Episcopal Church USA has rebuked those bishops for defying church law.
But Knippers calls the move by the Ohio congregations a "splendid" action. "They're saying to the Episcopal Church that we are in a state of crisis; that we cannot have 'business as usual.'"
The IRD spokeswomen says many parents do not want their children confirmed by a bishop who voted in favor of a homosexual bishop. "They want their confirmation to come from godly bishops who uphold biblical standards," she states. "So they invited five retired bishops and one bishop from overseas to come and do these confirmations."
Knippers is convinced the dissenting congregations sent an important signal to the Episcopal Church -- and she expects to see more of the same across the United States because mainstream Anglicans in the Episcopal Church, she says, are in a desperate situation.
"We want to be Anglican, we want to stand with the Anglican Communion, because we believe what most Anglicans believe around the world," Knippers says. "But it is no longer acceptable for us to be identified with the leadership and the direction of the Episcopal Church. So these acts -- symbolic and substantive -- will continue."
A conservative group called the American Anglican Council helped organize the Ohio confirmations.
