He leads one of three Episcopal parishes in California that stood up against the consecration of an openly homosexual bishop in New Hampshire. After his church bolted from its diocese and aligned with the conservative Anglican Church in Uganda, a battle erupted with his former diocese concerning ownership of their buildings and other property.
"I'm confident we'll win in the end," says Father Bill Thompson, rector of All Saints Anglican Church in Long Beach. One of the three breakaway churches -- St. James Church in Newport Beach - won their first round in court recently after a Superior Court judge ruled in their favor based on free-speech rights. Thompson's church will have a hearing later this year with the same issues in play.
The Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA) is the U.S. branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, which numbers some 77 million adherents spread throughout 38 autonomous provinces. All owe their spiritual heritage to the Church of England, headed by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Part of the reason for Thompson's confidence is that California - along with about a dozen other states - will not consider canon law in sorting out the dispute. Instead, the court will examine the church's title deeds and other legal documents in light of California law. "Our land has never been in the hand of the diocese," Thompson notes. "Our deed has always been solely in the name of the rector, wardens and vestrymen of All Saints Church."
Over 90 percent of the members at All Saints supported the move breaking away from the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles.
Through the years, Father Bill watched ECUSA's slide toward liberalism with mounting frustration. He traces the historical roots of the problem to the influences of German Higher Criticism in the early 1900s, which gained traction within the church after World War II.
As a teenager in the sixties, Thompson learned the House of Bishops refused to censure Bishop James Pike, who had written books denying the virgin birth and the bodily resurrection of Christ. "They refused to censure him, saying, 'It wouldn't be loving and it wouldn't be tolerant.'"
"I think a real marker is if a leader has aberrant theology and is not held accountable," Thompson warns.
In the early 1990s, Thompson helped to sponsor two resolutions at the annual convention of the Diocese of Los Angeles. The first declared that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and is the only way to the Father. The second stated that the Holy Scriptures should be the primary source for determining one's faith and morals.
"The resolution on Jesus was tabled and never acted upon," Thompson notes. "The resolution on the scriptures got voted down," he says. "It was terribly alarming for many of us."
The last straw for Thompson and other conservative Episcopalians was the vote August 5, 2003, affirming the consecration of V. Gene Robinson, a homosexual bishop who lives with a partner. "We saw this as a denial of the authority of scripture, rather than an anti-gay issue," Thompson notes. "This is the first time a general convention of the church took a vote that officially endorsed something we felt was overtly forbidden in scripture."
"For many in the church, it was the end," he adds. Thompson estimates about 50 churches throughout the U.S. left their respective dioceses, and affiliated with more conservative Anglicans throughout the world, including churches in Uganda, Kenya, Bolivia and Nigeria. "By far, these Anglicans in South Asia, South America and Africa are all very conservative and uphold biblical authority," he says.
"Those areas are growing fast," Thompson adds. "The Canadian and U.S. churches are shrinking - it's the incredible shrinking church. It's not surprising, because there's no meat there."
Thompson hopes the current squabble will lead to changes within the Anglican Church and its U.S. counterpart. "We see this as a temporary thing and we look forward to a major realignment," he says. "There is turmoil worldwide about the stances of the American and Canadian churches."
In retrospect, Thompson believes conservatives were slow to respond to the liberal drift. "We just wanted to maintain the historic faith, but we were complacent," he says. "We need to be repentant before the Lord about our complacency."
Mark Ellis ([email protected]) is a senior correspondent for ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net). He is also an assistant pastor in Laguna Beach, CA. This article is reprinted with the permission of ASSIST News Service.
© 2005, Agape Press. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
