Conservative Black Anglican speaks at Conference
http://www.gbmnews.com/articles/925/1/Conservative-Black-Anglican-speaks-at-Conference/Page1.html
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Published on 07/12/2007
By Jim DeLa
An Episcopalian from St. Petersburg was among a select few to offer direct testimony in June to the commission making recommendations to the Archbishop of Canterbury on how to respond to recent actions of the Episcopal Church.
Dr. Michael Howell, an associate professor of marine science at the University of South Florida, was one of five conservatives to testify before the Lambeth Commission when it met in North Carolina June 14-18.
Howell was selected to speak by the Anglican Communion Network of Dioceses and Parishes, a conservative group that would like to see the church sanctioned for, among other things, allowing the election of a gay priest as bishop of New Hampshire.
An Episcopalian from St. Petersburg was among a select few to offer direct testimony in June to the commission making recommendations to the Archbishop of Canterbury on how to respond to recent actions of the Episcopal Church. Dr. Michael Howell, an associate professor of marine science at the University of South Florida, was one of five conservatives to testify before the Lambeth Commission when it met in North Carolina June 14-18.
Howell was selected to speak by the Anglican Communion Network of Dioceses and Parishes, a conservative group that would like to see the church sanctioned for, among other things, allowing the election of a gay priest as bishop of New Hampshire.
Conservative Black Anglican speaks at Conference
By Jim DeLa
An Episcopalian from St. Petersburg was among a select few to offer direct testimony in June to the commission making recommendations to the Archbishop of Canterbury on how to respond to recent actions of the Episcopal Church.
Dr. Michael Howell, an associate professor of marine science at the University of South Florida, was one of five conservatives to testify before the Lambeth Commission when it met in North Carolina June 14-18.
Howell was selected to speak by the Anglican Communion Network of Dioceses and Parishes, a conservative group that would like to see the church sanctioned for, among other things, allowing the election of a gay priest as bishop of New Hampshire.
Howell told The Southern Cross that each member of the group addressed the panel. “Each one of us gave our own personal story with respect to what we viewed as the problem, why it mattered and how it’s affected us as individuals,” he said.
The process was fair, he said. “The commission definitely listened to what we had to say,” adding that he thought his group got its point across. “There were people on the commission that, in my opinion, really didn’t have a good handle on how, in our viewpoint, bad things have gotten in some parts of the Church. They really have a much better perspective as a result of our various testimonies.”
At the commission’s request, Bishop Robert M. Duncan, moderator of the Network, asked Howell, the Rev. Canon Martyn Minns, rector of Truro Parish in Fairfax, Va., Diane Knippers, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, and Mr. Hugo Blankingship, legal advisor to the American Anglican Council to address the Lambeth Commission.
The commission also heard from a panel espousing a different viewpoint, led by Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold.
Howell, who attends St. Vincent’s Episcopal Church in St. Petersburg, moved to the Tampa Bay area in 2003 from Columbia, S.C. He was a featured speaker at last year’s national AAC conference in Plano, Texas.
Root of the issue
In his testimony, Howell said is issue is not whether homosexuality is right or wrong. “For many of us, the issue is a matter of either Scriptural authority or affirming sin as righteousness. Homosexuality has presented itself as a symptom of the problem,” he said.
Episcopalians go astray, Howell said, when they begin to believe that sexual fulfillment is a God-given right. “As a single heterosexual male, God does not owe me any right to fulfill my sexual desires simply in return for obedience to Him,” he said.
“The only thing you’re promised in this life for being a follower of Christ is a cross. We all have different crosses to bear. For some of us, it may mean we will not be able to express ourselves sexually. But that doesn’t mean that somehow there’s something wrong with God’s plan.”
He said he was also concerned about equating the acceptance of gays and lesbians with civil rights, saying that argument trivializes the struggle against racism and distorts Scripture.
Looking ahead
Howell said the Anglican Communion must take decisive action. “There must be some kind of substantive action that needs to take place with respect to recent decisions by the Episcopal Church or else there is going to be significant loss of people and resources.”
Howell says his first hope would be that the church can correct itself. “If any kind of discipline is to be put in order, you have to give the institution an opportunity to correct itself … I would basically advocate that the Episcopal Church be given some time to rescind its actions,” he said.
How that might happen? “They could ask him (Robinson) to resign … somehow the House of Bishops could inhibit his ministry,” Howell said, conceding that would be difficult. “This would be precedent-setting. That would take some time. Obviously some people would not agree and fight that tooth and nail,” he said.
“Our motivation is not necessarily wanting to destroy the Episcopal Church. If we really wanted to do that, most of us would have probably already left, like some have. “
Many of us want to remain Anglicans and we don’t want to form another splinter group. But, when judgment comes from Christ, he’s not going to ask me if I remained in the Episcopal Church. He’s going to ask me if I was faithful to everything that He commanded me to do. So if the Episcopal Church turns out to be a church that embracing and espouses false teaching, and I simply remained a part of that, for whatever reason, I’m going to be accountable. That’s why this is important.”
The Lambeth Commission is expected to meet for the last time in late September, where it will finalize its report to the Archbishop of Canterbury. The substance of the report, along with any recommendations for discipline, could become public before diocesan convention Oct. 7–9 in Punta Gorda.
http://www.dioceseswfla.org/ezine/july2004/howell.htm
An Episcopalian from St. Petersburg was among a select few to offer direct testimony in June to the commission making recommendations to the Archbishop of Canterbury on how to respond to recent actions of the Episcopal Church.
Dr. Michael Howell, an associate professor of marine science at the University of South Florida, was one of five conservatives to testify before the Lambeth Commission when it met in North Carolina June 14-18.
Howell was selected to speak by the Anglican Communion Network of Dioceses and Parishes, a conservative group that would like to see the church sanctioned for, among other things, allowing the election of a gay priest as bishop of New Hampshire.
Howell told The Southern Cross that each member of the group addressed the panel. “Each one of us gave our own personal story with respect to what we viewed as the problem, why it mattered and how it’s affected us as individuals,” he said.
The process was fair, he said. “The commission definitely listened to what we had to say,” adding that he thought his group got its point across. “There were people on the commission that, in my opinion, really didn’t have a good handle on how, in our viewpoint, bad things have gotten in some parts of the Church. They really have a much better perspective as a result of our various testimonies.”
At the commission’s request, Bishop Robert M. Duncan, moderator of the Network, asked Howell, the Rev. Canon Martyn Minns, rector of Truro Parish in Fairfax, Va., Diane Knippers, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, and Mr. Hugo Blankingship, legal advisor to the American Anglican Council to address the Lambeth Commission.
The commission also heard from a panel espousing a different viewpoint, led by Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold.
Howell, who attends St. Vincent’s Episcopal Church in St. Petersburg, moved to the Tampa Bay area in 2003 from Columbia, S.C. He was a featured speaker at last year’s national AAC conference in Plano, Texas.
Root of the issue
In his testimony, Howell said is issue is not whether homosexuality is right or wrong. “For many of us, the issue is a matter of either Scriptural authority or affirming sin as righteousness. Homosexuality has presented itself as a symptom of the problem,” he said.
Episcopalians go astray, Howell said, when they begin to believe that sexual fulfillment is a God-given right. “As a single heterosexual male, God does not owe me any right to fulfill my sexual desires simply in return for obedience to Him,” he said.
“The only thing you’re promised in this life for being a follower of Christ is a cross. We all have different crosses to bear. For some of us, it may mean we will not be able to express ourselves sexually. But that doesn’t mean that somehow there’s something wrong with God’s plan.”
He said he was also concerned about equating the acceptance of gays and lesbians with civil rights, saying that argument trivializes the struggle against racism and distorts Scripture.
Looking ahead
Howell said the Anglican Communion must take decisive action. “There must be some kind of substantive action that needs to take place with respect to recent decisions by the Episcopal Church or else there is going to be significant loss of people and resources.”
Howell says his first hope would be that the church can correct itself. “If any kind of discipline is to be put in order, you have to give the institution an opportunity to correct itself … I would basically advocate that the Episcopal Church be given some time to rescind its actions,” he said.
How that might happen? “They could ask him (Robinson) to resign … somehow the House of Bishops could inhibit his ministry,” Howell said, conceding that would be difficult. “This would be precedent-setting. That would take some time. Obviously some people would not agree and fight that tooth and nail,” he said.
“Our motivation is not necessarily wanting to destroy the Episcopal Church. If we really wanted to do that, most of us would have probably already left, like some have. “
Many of us want to remain Anglicans and we don’t want to form another splinter group. But, when judgment comes from Christ, he’s not going to ask me if I remained in the Episcopal Church. He’s going to ask me if I was faithful to everything that He commanded me to do. So if the Episcopal Church turns out to be a church that embracing and espouses false teaching, and I simply remained a part of that, for whatever reason, I’m going to be accountable. That’s why this is important.”
The Lambeth Commission is expected to meet for the last time in late September, where it will finalize its report to the Archbishop of Canterbury. The substance of the report, along with any recommendations for discipline, could become public before diocesan convention Oct. 7–9 in Punta Gorda.
http://www.dioceseswfla.org/ezine/july2004/howell.htm