Baltimore Declaration

A manifesto issued on May 26, 1991, the Feast of the Holy Trinity, by six Episcopal priests in the Diocese of Maryland. It was patterned after the 1934 Barmen Declaration of the Confessing Church in Germany. The Baltimore Declaration charged that the leadership of the Episcopal Church was intent on abandoning the Christian faith. Alvin Frank Kimel, Jr., principal author of the Declaration, and five colleagues from the Baltimore area called Episcopalians to repentance for failing to uphold both “the doctrinal norms of the historic creeds and ecumenical councils” and “the formative and evangelical authority of the Holy Scriptures.” The Baltimore Declaration was divided into seven articles, each of which contained a positive statement of belief and a repudiation of theological error. It affirmed such traditional doctrines as the Trinity, the Incarnation, salvation through the atoning work of Jesus Christ, and the divine inspiration of the Bible. The Declaration was distributed widely throughout the Episcopal Church. Its authors invited clergy and lay people to join them in affirming orthodox Christianity.