My dear brothers:

I have been profoundly disturbed by the caricature that has been presented of the Episcopal Church in the United States as being disregarding of scripture and the classical doctrines of the church. To be sure there are divergent views on the question of human sexuality which are supported by different readings and interpretations of the biblical texts, but in no way is the biblical record treated as other than the word of God “containing all things necessary to salvation.” With regard to doctrine, I know of no active bishops who are other than completely orthodox in their understanding of the creeds.

I therefore regard the actions of the primates of Rwanda and South East Asia as singularly unhelpful at a time when we in the Episcopal Church are seeking to upbuild and strengthen our fundamental unity in faith for the sake of mission to a broken and needy world.

The enclosed letter (to Episcopal Church bishops) is self-explanatory and I wanted you to have a copy of it, particularly as we look ahead to the primates meeting at which time I sincerely hope the internal life of the Episcopal Church will not be the dominant topic of our time together. Let us not be deflected from the larger concerns of genocide, crushing poverty side by side with inordinate affluence, and the dangerous fundamentalism – both within Islam and our own Christian community – which threatens to turn our God of compassion into a idol of wrath.

Yours in Christ,

The Most Reverend Frank T. Griswold
XXV Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church, USA