Parish Letters from the Rector of The Falls Church and the Senior Warden of Truro Church

From the Rector of The Falls Church

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Dear Friends,

I have just today learned that representatives of the Bishop of Virginia have notified us that the diocese and the national church are no longer
interested in pursuing the friendly negotiations that we had agreed to earlier and that we can expect them to pursue litigation for our property as soon as the "30 day stand still " agreement expires (Jan 17). They have reached this decision in spite of their earlier support of the "protocol" for departing congregations and in spite of our preliminary meeting less then two weeks ago with the "property committee" set up by Bishop Lee for these negotiations. Apparently now he and the leaders of the Episcopal Church have changed their mind.

For now I want you to be aware of this development and to know that I'll be meeting with our vestry in a special session both to pray together and to consider our next steps.

We have known all along that this could happen and over the last year, while I have devoted myself fully to laying the ground work for an amicable negotiated settlement, your vestry has been focused on preparing for this very possibility even while persistently praying it would never come to pass. All the other churches that have left already and several others still in discernment about this are strongly committed to working together with us, and we have the unusual provision of a team of lawyers who are both extremely capable and unusually mature in Jesus Christ. Many of our wisest people have been preparing for the whole range of possible contingencies for quite some time.

So, although I am deeply disappointed that this decision has been made by the Diocese of Virginia and the Episcopal Church, I am in no way fearful or alarmed. Our aim all along has been to be as Jesus commanded us, to "be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves." If the diocese and the national church do in fact pursue adversarial litigation against us over the ownership of our property, we will vigorously and humbly defend our responsibility (both to past and future generations) to be faithful stewards for that which God has entrusted to us for His purposes.

However our church is not dependent upon buildings and grounds. These things are important but they are incidental to being a church. The church is people indwelt by God's spirit intent on faithfully following Christ who leads us in truth and grace. The plans of God are always larger and greater than our ability to grasp. The one thing in life that matters is to be faithful to Him.

Recently however I have been pondering a much greater theme which is God's faithfulness to us! We can always depend on God to faithfully care for us whatever the circumstances, and the basis of His faithfulness is not our own worthiness or wisdom but His love for us in Christ. "TheLord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you." (2 Thessalonians 3:3). I beseech you to set aside times alone and in your small groups to pray about this matter.

This event may cause additional sadness and pain to many, and we need to continue to embody the love of Christ in our responses to those who may disagree with us. We will continue to welcome and invite everyone to join us in worship, and to invite those who may hear or believe negative things about us to 'come, taste and see' for themselves. I believe the Lord may be setting open a very wide door for us to share the wonderful love of Jesus Christ to a hurting world. I look forward to worshiping our faithful Lord together with you this Saturday night and Sunday.

In the family,
John

The Rev'd John Yates is Rector of The Falls Church, Falls Church, Virginia.

From the Senior Warden of Truro Church

Dear members of the Truro family,

We have been informed today that the Diocese of Virginia intends to initiate legal action against us upon the expiration of our “standstill agreement” with them. We have also been informed that the national church intends to participate in this legal action with them. They are apparently intending to take this action despite the earlier assurances that we received from them that they desired to settle our differences amicably, despite their earlier support of the “protocol for departing congregations,” and despite our preliminary meeting less than two weeks ago with the “property committee” set up by Bishop Lee for these negotiations.

We are greatly saddened by these actions by the Diocese of Virginia and the national church, but it does not come as a complete surprise. In fact, we have been preparing for this possibility even as we have prayed it would not come to pass. We are strongly committed to working together with the other churches that have taken this step with us, as well as those that are currently in discernment about their future. Further, we are fortunate to have a team of capable lawyers who are devoted Christians working with us. With their counsel, we have prepared defenses against the whole range of actions that we have anticipated the Episcopal Church may choose to initiate against us.

Accordingly, although we are saddened by this development, we are in no way fearful or alarmed. We are confident of the legal strength of our position, but more importantly, we are confident in the moral and ethical strength of our position. We know that our God is in control, and we are secure in the assurance of His grace.

We are finalizing our legal response to these recent actions, and are in constant contact with the leadership of all the other churches involved. We have also issued a joint press release with The Falls Church which is available on our website (click here). For now, we want you to be aware of this development, and we ask for your prayers for Martyn, Truro’s clergy and staff, and your vestry during this crucial time. Just as important, I ask your prayers for Bishop Lee, for the Diocese of Virginia, and for the Episcopal Church.

Your brother in Christ,
Jim

Mr. Jim Oakes is Senior Warden of Truro Church, Fairfax, Virginia.