Playing by the Rules

It has taken more than a month for an articulate op-ed from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette to reach this editor. It was worth the wait. Author Jerry Bowyer, “an Episcopal vestryman, a financial journalist and the chairman of Bowyer Media,” offers a conservative’s well-reasoned argument for why you don’t walk off the field when you don’t get to play quarterback. You can read the entire piece here.

Writing about the decision of the Bishop of Pittsburgh to pull his diocese out of the Episcopal Church, we wrote, “On Oct. 31., the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church USA sent a letter to the bishop of Pittsburgh, directing him not to split the diocese from the denomination. Bishop Duncan replied by quoting Martin Luther, ‘Here I stand. I can do no other.’

It's a powerful quote, but a misuse of history. Martin Luther didn't leave the Roman Catholic Church; he was kicked out. He decided to ‘stand’ and fight. It's ironic that Bishop Duncan quoted Luther's pledge to ‘stand’ in order to justify his intention to ‘walk.’"

Mr. Bowyer notes that all ordained Episcopal clergy take the same oath to uphold the authority of the church. You can’t pick and choose among authorities, and if you don’t like a decision, your obligation under your oath is to work within the church for change.

If the good bishop is really sincere about his convictions, he has an obvious choice; he can renounce his vows and become part of a church in which he feels more comfortable… assuming he can find one. But he cannot take his diocese with him. That diocese belongs to the Episcopal Church, and to the thousands of Episcopalians in western Pennsylvania whom he has tried to lead astray.