The Episcopal Church

Mary Rourke writes about the “Episcopalian Church,” by which she means the Episcopal Church (“The Heretic” Feb. 25). Episcopalians are members of that church. Its bishops wear purple, not red. A “flame-colored stole is not a symbol of the bishop’s office but rather of the deacon’s office. If the stole is flame-colored, it is so because of the season of the church year. At other times, it might be green, purple or white. Bishops wear not a special “bishop’s collar” but a regular clerical collar.

“Considerable numbers” did not oppose the ordination of women or the institution of a new prayer book; it was only a small minority.

A statement reaffirming the church’s traditional teachings on marriage and chastity was approved by a majority of those attending the House of Bishops at the 1979 general convention. But that statement was not a resolution or a pastoral letter, was never voted upon by the House of Deputies and was not an official action of the church.

The church is not considering “homosexual marriage.” Its Standing Liturgical Commission has been asked to draft a “service of blessing” for longtime, monogamous homosexual relationships. When completed, such a service would have to be approved by both houses of a general convention in order to become an official service of the church.

Ruth M. Nicastro

Former Communications Officer

Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles

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Rourke is right about one thing--that “for the last 20 years, the church has been unraveling.” And why is that? Because the word of God is nowhere to be found.

Perhaps Rourke has exercised her (politically correct) right to drop any reference to God when she “writes about religion for the Times.” But the quotes that appear in the article tell another story: Leaders of the Episcopal Church have apparently dropped all reference to God, too.

Phil Clark

La Mirada

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The Rev. Barry Stopfel says, “As a gay man, you don’t have access to the structures of power in the church. All you have are your own personal ethics.” What a chaotic society we would have if we all behaved according to our “own personal ethics.”

There are laws of God and the laws of men to guide our behavior and our conscience. So, indeed, Bishop Walter Righter is teaching false doctrine.

Esperanza Shalako

Montebello

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The Protestant view of Martin Luther is that he challenged the religious leaders of his time, who had accommodated to modern culture and who had expanded the definition of authority beyond the primacy of Scripture.

Thus it is not logical to defend Righter for being charged with heresy for departing from scripture and equate him with Luther, who was branded a heretic for insisting on the sole authority of Scripture.

Mitchell E. Harris

Chino