The Province 7 Statement

in Response to the Proposed Pastoral
of the House of Bishops Concerning Human Sexuality

Until recent years there has been an almost unquestioned consensus among Christians, amply supported by the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, concerning sexual ethics. Partly as a consequence of the "sexual revolution" within the wider society, that consensus has been challenged even by some within the Church. The House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church was directed by the 70th General Convention of the Church in July 1991, to prepare a pastoral teaching on the subject of Human Sexuality prior to the 71st General Convention which will meet in late August and early September, 1994.

Much hard work has been done on that pastoral and we believe there is a good deal of helpful material in it. Nevertheless, we, the undersigned Bishops of the Episcopal Church, are agreed in our conviction that this document, in its present form, is incapable of providing the clear guidance wanted and needed by Christian people for faithful living. We therefore offer the following statement to recall and affirm afresh the unchanged teaching of the Church in a day of moral confusion.

1. The fundamental element in Christian sexual morality is the discipline of self-control called Chastity, which means absolute faithfulness in marriage and sexual abstinence apart from marriage. Marriage is a union of husband and wife, one man and one woman created in God's image. We affirm the teaching of scripture and tradition that marriage is lifelong in intention, sacred in character, and a reflection on the human level of the love relationship between God and the Covenant People in the Old Testament, and that between Christ and the Church in the New Testament.
2. Premarital sexual relations, however prevalent in society, cannot be condoned by a Church that proclaims the sanctity of marriage. Equally, sexual relationships outside of marriage constitute a denial of God's plan for humanity, and they must be met by a call to repentance and amendment of life. Sexual relationships between members of the same sex are also a denial of God's plan, and cannot be condoned by the Church.
3. We recognize fully the difficulties which Christian moral imperatives impose on all of us as members of our fallen race, and we therefore counsel tolerance and loving pastoral care for those who-for whatever reason and in whatever way-are unwilling or unable to maintain the discipline of Chastity. But neither the Church nor its bishops have the authority to compromise in principle, or give approval in practice, to standards less or other than our God has given us.

Active Bishops

Ackerman, Keith (Quincy)
Ashby, John (Western Kansas)
Atkins, Stanley (Eau Claire)
Ball, David (Albany)
Beckham, William (Upper S.C.)
Beckwith, Peter (Springfield)
Benitez, Maurice (Texas)
Brown, James (Louisiana)
Buchanan, John (West Missouri)
Coleman, James (West Tennessee)
Crittenden, William (Northwestern Pa.)
Duvall, Charles (Central Gulf Coast)
Edmondson, Herbert (Asstg., C. Fla.)
Espinoza, Samuel (Western Mexico)
Fairfield, Andrew (North Dakota)
Folts, James E. (Coadjutor, West Texas)
Frade, Leopold (Honduras)
Frey, William (Dean, Trinity Seminary)
Garcia, Martiniano (Suff., Mexico)
Gray, Francis (Northern Indiana)
Guerra-Soria, Armando (Guatemala)
Hargrove, Robert (Western Louisiana)
Harte, Joseph M (Arizona)
Hathaway, Alden (Pittsburgh)
Herlong, Bertram (Tennessee)
Holguin-Khoury, J.C. (Dominican Rep.)
Hollis, Reginald (Asst., Central Florida)
Howe, John (Central Florida)
Huerto-Ramos, Claro (S.E. Mexico)
Hughes, Gethin (San Diego)
Iker, Jack (Fort Worth)
Jacobus, Russell E. (Fond du Lac)
Jecko, Stephen (Florida)
Jones, Girault (Louisiana)
Kelshaw, Terence (Rio Grande)
Keyser, Charles (Suff., Armed Services)
Krotz, James (Nebraska)
MacNaughton, John (West Texas)
Martinez, German (Northern Mexico)
McArthur, Earl (Suff., West Texas)
Merino-Botero, Bernardo (Colombia)
Moody, Robert (Oklahoma)
Payne, Claude (Coadjutor, Texas)
Pope, Clarence (Fort Worth)
Rowley, Robert (Northwestern Pa.)
Rowthorn, Jeffery (Suff., Europe)
Salmon, Edward L. (South Carolina)
Sanders, B. Sidney (East Carolina)
Scantlebury, Victor (Suff., Panama)
Schofield, John-David (San Joaquin)
Shipps, Harry (Georgia)
Smalley, William (Kansas)
Smith, John H. (West Virginia)
Stanton, James (Dallas)
Sterling, William (Suff., Texas)
Thompson, Herbert (Southern Ohio)
Wantland, William (Eau Claire)
White, Roger (Milwaukee)
Wimberly, Don (Lexington)

Retired Bishops

Allin, John (Presiding Bishop)
Allison, FitzSimons (South Carolina)
Bailey, Scott (West Texas)
Brady, William (Fond du Lac)
Burgreen, Charles Lee (Armed Services)
Caceres-Villavicencio, Adrian (Equador)
Carral-Solar, Anselmo (Asst., Texas)
Charlton, Gordon (Suff. Bishop, Texas)
Cochrane, Robert H. (Olympia)
Cox, William J. (Oklahoma)
Dickson, Alex D. (West Tennessee)
Dicus, Richard E. (West Texas)
Duncan, James (Southeast Florida)
Emrich, Richard S. (Michigan)
Gaskell, Charles (Milwaukee)
Gooden, Heber (Panama)
Gosnell, Harold C. (West Texas)
Gray, Duncan (Mississippi)
Gross, Hal (Suff., Oregon)
Haden, Clarence (Northern California)
Haynsworth, Edward (Asst., S.C.)
Heistand, Joseph T. (Arizona)
Hobgood, Clarence (Armed Services)
Hultstrand, Donald (Springfield)
MacBurney, Edward (Quincy)
Mayson, Irving (Suff., Michigan)
McAllister, Gerald (Oklahoma)
Mize, Robert (Asstg., San Joaquin)
Moore, William M. (Easton)
Parsons, Donald (Quincy)
Patterson, Donis (Dallas)
Pina-Lopez, H.L. (Honduras, Resigned)
Quarterman, George (Northwest Texas)
Reeves, G. Paul (Georgia)
Rivera, Victor Manuel (San Joaquin)
Sheridan, William (Northern Indiana)
Smith, Gordon B. (Iowa)
Stevens, William (Fond du Lac)
Stewart, Alexander (W. Massachusetts)
Thompson, John (Northern California)
Turner, Edward C. (Kansas)
Turner, Edward M. (Virgin Islands)
Varley, Robert P. (Asst., Minnesota)
Warner, James D. (Nebraska)
Witcher, Robert (Long Island)
Wolterstorff, Robert (San Diego)
Wood, Milton (Suff., Atlanta)