Bishop Howe on the Mark

My Dear Archbishop Rowan,

I have just seen the preposterous diatribe sent to you by Bishop Jack Spong, and, as one of his fellow Bishops, I send my deepest apology.

I am saddened that in his very first sentences he has disparaged you for "not coming alone" to the meeting of the American House of Bishops later this month The invitation, which I personally composed, was, of course, to you AND the members of the Joint Standing Committee of the Primates.

Bishop Spong has systematically denied virtually every tenet of the Christian Faith, and he presided over the near-destruction of the Diocese of Newark. During his tenure (1978 - 2000) the number of baptized members in the Diocese of Newark declined from 64,323 to 36,674, a loss of 27,649 or 43 percent. Eighteen congregations were closed between 1978 and 1997, and a further nine in 2000.

His sarcasm, his disrespect, and his arrogance are simply stunning. But then this is the same Bishop Spong who stated at the last Lambeth Conference that the African Bishops had "moved out of animism into a very superstitious kind of Christianity. They've yet to face the intellectual revolution of Copernicus and Einstein that we've had to face in the developing world. That's just not on their radar screen."

Your commitment to the Primates, and to all the members of the Communion, to uphold the teaching of Lambeth 1998 has been a spectacular gift, one that we all understand has been costly to you, personally.

Bishop Spong dares to say that you have become a "miserable failure." Shame on him. It is Bishop Spong who has consistently repudiated the teachings of the Holy Scriptures in favor of the latest cultural innovations, and he has inflicted tremendous damage on the Church of Jesus Christ.

Bishop Spong has the hubris to say of the orthodox, "We are espousing a position about homosexuality that is dated, uninformed, inhumane and frankly embarrassing. No learned person stands there today."

Actually, it is his position that is embarrassing! Study after study, from Masters and Johnson to Charles Socarides has shown that for a remarkably high percentage of homosexual persons a change of orientation is possible.

But the deeper question is not whether or not a given person's orientation has changed, but whether or not that person is willing (often at great personal sacrifice!) to conform his/her conduct to the teaching of Scripture that sexual intimacy is for marriage (one man, one woman, in Christ).

For Bishop Spong to lecture you as he has done is beyond belief. Please know that he speaks for himself alone, and that the Bishops who are gathering in New Orleans in just two weeks will greet you with great eagerness and affection.

Warmest regards in our Lord,

The Right Rev. John W. Howe
Episcopal Bishop of Central Florida