Dear Brothers and Sisters;

I am writing to you only two days before your diocesan convention, at which it may well be that the majority of delegates to your convention, and your bishop, may ratify the first reading taken last year and move away from the Episcopal Church.

If this has happened, and you read this letter, know that there are many brothers and sisters in the Diocese of California who pray for you, as do I, and that we will support you in the rebuilding of your diocese under the direction of our Presiding Bishop.

I know that your individual reasons for remaining Episcopalian vary, that for some it is related to considered positions on issues that are disputed in our Church, and that for others it is a matter of Christian unity and the exercise of the virtue of stability. I honor all these, and even more your ability to live in what may be called Anglican comprehensiveness – something which has been a hallmark of our Communion’s way of being but which seems to have eroded in many places. To me, you manifest yourselves as true Anglicans.

Further, I see your adherence to Christian unity as having roots in central texts of the New Testament, particularly in works such as the Letter to the Ephesians. By peacefully and resolutely holding to Christian unity you continue to tend a flame that was ignited by the first people who followed the Way of Jesus the Christ. I thank you.

Sincerely,

Marc Handley Andrus
Bishop of the Diocese of California