from remain Faithful

For Immediate Release



September 3, 2008



Remain Faithful, a lay led organization comprised of orthodox Episcopalians and Anglicans is planning to take a very active role in support of the establishment of an orthodox Anglican Province in North America. The Anglican communion in North America has been split into two separate churches with polarizing differences in beliefs over the past 30 years. It is apparent that a reconciliation is not going to occur as the orthodox historic faith is being compromised by new age revisionist theology.



According to noted English journalist Andrew Carey, son of retired Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, "The depressing and urgent situation in The Episcopal Church becomes ever clearer over time, despite all of the efforts of their liberal church leaders to try and persuade the rest of the Anglican Communion that really we’re just like you. Close watchers of the US … will be more aware than most of the state of that Church. Heterodoxy [unorthodoxy] is never punished, whereas orthodox impatience is the subject of lawsuits all over the country. And the amount of heterodoxy uttered in The Episcopal Church is truly astonishing. Even leaving aside the virtual atheism of Bishop Spong’s ‘Twelve Theses’, we’ve had bishops claim that the church can ‘re-write the Bible’, others make sweeping apologies for Christian mission to those of other faiths, while the Presiding Bishop views Jesus as just one way among many."



The laity have realized that The Episcopal Church (TEC) will not change course. Numerous orthodox Anglicans have therefore left or are contemplating leaving the Church. Remain Faithful believes strongly that the answer lies in the formation of an orthodox Anglican Province in North America as has been outlined by the Common Cause Partnership, and endorsed by GAFCON, and is committed to being a strong lay voice beside our faithful Clergy to help make this happen. As such, Remain Faithful will be hosting its second conference on Saturday September 27, 2008 at St. Vincent’s Cathedral in Bedford, Texas. All orthodox Anglicans are invited to attend. “Mobilizing the Faithful- Toward a Faithful Future” will begin at 10:00 a.m. on the Saturday morning and will include educational components of how we got where we are and the true differences in our beliefs, factual information for delegates and vestry members, and a call from Remain Faithful to move forward in earnest with the formation of the new orthodox Anglican Province in North America. Please rsvp on our website at http://www.remainfaithful.org/ . The conference will conclude with a lunch around 1:00 p.m.



"All across our planet orthodox Anglicans acknowledge this intolerable situation where the communion has been derailed from its historic faith by revisionists within The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church in Canada. We fully support the position reached by the founders of Common Cause Partnership to form a new orthodox Anglican Province in North America, and as was highlighted at the recent GAFCON meeting of orthodox Anglicans in Jerusalem. We call on the Primates of GAFCON to formally acknowledge a new orthodox Province in North American and we stand ready as faithful laity to insure a rapid and complete formation of this new Province. It should be stressed, we are not leaving the Church- TEC and the Anglican Church in Canada have left the historic Anglican faith. We can no longer stand by and watch the situation deteriorate further. The time for action is now." Chad Bates, Remain Faithful Chair stated.



"We must be devoted to neither man nor institution, but to Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, the risen God who lived and died for our sins and is the sole source of our eternal salvation, and His revealed word to us, the Bible, which contains all things necessary for salvation and is authoritative in our behavior and daily lives. We must stand up for our faith, once delivered to the Saints. We must move forward together with our Anglican brothers and sisters in Christ who share our orthodox beliefs to share the Good News of Christ's redemption with the world." Cora Werley, Spokesperson for Remain Faithful added.



Remain Faithful is in the planning stages for how the laity can stand beside and complement faithful Clergy to move forward rapidly with this new Province formation and will be working in conjunction with Common Cause Partnership to provide lay leadership and support for the new Province. Remain Faithful was formed in late May of this year, but already has well over 830 members from over 60 Dioceses and over 16 countries. The membership represents over 33,200 years of membership as Episcopalians and Anglicans. Its membership includes those from The Episcopal Church, Canada, AMiA, CANA, REC, and many other members of the Anglican Communion. For more information on Remain Faithful, go to our website at http://www.remainfaithful.org/.