Well at last the Episcopal Church in the US appears to be moving towards not affirming the election of the Rev Kevin Thew Forrester, who has become a follower of Buddhism through lay ordination, as the Bishop of Northern Michigan. CEN reported recently that a majority of diocesan standing committees had refused to give their assent, and 39 of the 102 members of the House of Bishops have likewise declined to affirm his election, although 14 bishops have done so. The final status of his election will not be known until mid-July, but unless there is a significant change of votes, it is likely that Mr Forrester will not become a bishop.
While we can applaud the actions of the majority of bishops and standing committees (and can only weep that 14 bishops thought otherwise), the question still remains: why is this man allowed to continue as a teacher in the church of God? Heresy might be championed by bishops, but it begins with priests. Gene Robinson would never have been elected unless there was a significant number of practising gay priests in New Hampshire. Why, for example, was Gene Robinson not disciplined when he was a priest? It is not good enough to say that we must protect the bench of bishops from doctrinal error; we must protect the people of God from false teachers and faithless shepherds!
It will be interesting to see if there is any discipline forthcoming from the Episcopal Church concerning the Reverend Kevin Forrester, should his election not be upheld. Will he be allowed to teach a gospel contrary to the gospel of God?
The Church of England Newspaper quotes Bishop Tom Wright as saying:
"I don't really see what there is left to say, the unique incarnation, saving death, bodily resurrection and universal lordship of Jesus are basic to Christian faith, and to question that means you are disqualified from being an upholder of that faith in any official capacity in the church. That such a man should be considered even a possibility for a bishop is quite simply extraordinary."
But we live in extraordinary times.
