Bishop of Chicago's response to Resurrection Church

65 EAST HURON STREET CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60611-2728 T 312 751-4200 FROM (815) 800 426-3894 F 312 787-4534 WWW.EPISCHICAGO.ORG

The Rev. George B. Koch, Rector The Wardens, Vestry and Members of the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection 1465 S. Neltnor Blvd. West Chicago, IL 60185-4064

It was good to worship and meet with you on February 1, 2007, at Church of the Resurrection. It helped us to understand your position and to relate to you as fellow members of our Church. Having had some time to pray and reflect upon the discussion that evening, on your letter of December 17, 2006, and your Request to the Bishop and Standing Committee dated December 26, 2006, we propose the following:

We sincerely hope that you will reconsider your position as expressed in your letters and our discussion. We would welcome the Church of the Resurrection to continue its life and ministry within the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion as a member parish of the Diocese of Chicago. Our Church has historically been broadly comprehensive allowing for a diversity of liturgical styles, biblical interpretations and theological understandings. We believe that the Church of the Resurrection has been nurtured and supported in the Episcopal Church and is not unique in its view points and emphases. We believe that you enrich our common life and that the mission and ministry of the Episcopal Church can both strengthen and challenge you to grow in the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ.

If you feel that you must leave the Episcopal Church, you and the Episcopal Church would be diminished. We cannot say that we have no need of each other (I Corinthians 12:14 ff). Before this could happen there should be a congregational meeting with a member of the Bishop’s staff present. At this meeting there should be an open discussion of the issues. Those who might choose to leave the Episcopal Church would understand that they would do so as individuals. The Rev. George Koch, should he choose to leave, would need to renounce his orders as a priest of the Episcopal Church. Those who wish to remain in the Episcopal Church will be re-organized as a congregation with a priest provided by the diocese, similar to what happened when the rector and many members left your congregation thirteen years ago and twelve persons remained who subsequently called the Rev. George Koch as rector.

Those who might choose to leave will abandon any claim to the Church buildings and property. The property is held in trust for the Episcopal Church and is to be used for the mission and ministry of the Church. In making our decisions we are constrained by canon law and by guidance of the Episcopal Church. We are grateful for your prayerful decision not to waste the Church’s resources in civil litigation.

If we are unsuccessful in building a new congregation in West Chicago, we would probably sell the property and use the proceeds for mission and ministry in another location.

Again, our hope and prayer is that the vast majority of the people of the Church of the Resurrection will maintain your membership in good standing in the Episcopal Church. To do so would demonstrate to the world that what unites us is far more significant than what divides us. God has called us into the body of Christ. Our unity in Christ is God’s gift to us and God’s demand upon us.

A little bit of background from the church's website:

Are we leaving the Episcopal Church? We believe we must. We are working to do so in a grace-filled way. From Pastor George: Before you delve into all of this news, and these resources and links, we'd like you to know that God has given us enormous peace about this crisis - He will use it, like all things, for good. At Resurrection we now are focused on growth: in our lived-out faith, and in our numbers, both as led by the Spirit. THAT is where our attention is now turned. The joy of the Lord is our strength.

A vital part of this will be Resurrection remaining a part of the Anglican Communion, which is a vibrant and faithful worldwide church.

The Episcopal Church believes that it is doing "a new thing" led by the Holy Spirit, and that it is being prophetic in the decisions which it made in 2003 and 2006 at its General Conventions. We respectfully disagree, and believe that this new path that it is taking is incompatible with scripture and the long tradition of the church, and so we cannot go with it on this new journey. This looks like Resurrection is leaving the Episcopal Church, but that is the same kind of illusion experienced while sitting on a stationary train as another pulls away. It feels like you're moving, but you aren't.

We believe that we are being true to the core beliefs of the Anglican Communion, and that the Episcopal Church has departed from them. It is leaving. We are not.

Therefore, in conscience, on December 12, 2006, the Vestry of Resurrection voted to begin negotiations with the Diocese of Chicago to disassociate from the Episcopal Church and seek other Anglican oversight. It is a difficult and agonizing decision, but we believe it is right and necessary.

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Speak the truth in love. Eph 4:15
[Here is Resurrection's response to Bishop Persell --Huber]

February 26, 2007

Dear Bishop Persell and Mr Perillo,

Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Please share this with the Standing Committee.

We’ve received your letter of the 13th and shared it with the entire congregation. We were disappointed but, as promised, we will accept your decision. We are working now on a plan to move forward, and will have dates, meetings and means of choosing in place in the next few weeks.

I believe that a large portion of the congregation will choose to leave, and that I will have to resign and renounce my orders, and those who leave will then together simply start over, with hope, in rented facilities. I do not have a time line for any of this yet: we will prayerfully work through it and keep you apprised. When the decisions are finally made, we also fully intend to leave with nothing that belongs to the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection. We will make an inventory of church property and give it to you. Some individuals have items of their own on the premises which we will ask them to take home. We will also make a list of these and provide it to you, so that everything is above board and open. We also intend to clean the entire church, head to toe, before we turn it over to you.

When the time comes for parting, which I believe that it will, we will turn over keys, accounts and records to you. If there are any who choose to stay, we will bless them and pray for them. We will most certainly turn them over to your care. As a time line and decisions are developed and made, we will continue to keep you informed. We will also pray for your blessing and ask that you pray for ours.

On a personal note, this is a time of enormous emotion and deep grief. It is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life. Though I hope that I have been clear in our disagreement, I also hope that I have been honorable.

In Christ,

George+

_____________________________
Rev Dr George Byron Koch, Pastor .
Church of the Resurrection .
http://www.resurrection.org .

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