To the Clergy and Faithful of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic States

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

On Friday, September 18, early voting begins in Virginia for the General Election that concludes on November 3. This year Virginia voters will consider, among other matters, proposed amendments to the Constitution of the Commonwealth concerning abortion and marriage.

I write to you not as a Republican or a Democrat, nor on behalf of any political party or candidate. The Church should not become an instrument of partisan politics. But neither can the Church remain silent when questions placed before society concern matters about which the Christian Faith has spoken clearly from its earliest days.  And, as a bishop I am called to plainly say what those teachings require of the Christian conscience.

Our responsibility is not to a political party. Our responsibility is to Jesus Christ and to the Truth He has revealed.

Two questions on the ballot touch directly upon teachings which the Anglican Catholic Church has formally affirmed.

Question 1 asks whether the Constitution of Virginia should be amended to establish a fundamental right to reproductive freedom, expressly including abortion, while permitting certain regulation of abortion during the third trimester.

Whatever political arguments may surround this question, the teaching of our Church concerning the life of the unborn is unambiguous.

The Affirmation of St. Louis, one of the foundational documents of the Anglican Catholic Church, declares under the heading “Sanctity of Human Life”:

“Every human being, from the time of his conception, is a creature and child of God, made in His image and likeness, an infinitely precious soul.”

Our ACC Canons, Title XV, Canon 1, §1.01, speak even more specifically. Recognizing the particular responsibility Christians bear toward the defenseless unborn, they teach that the deliberate and willful abortion of an unborn child, directly procured from the moment of conception, “is always an act of grave sin.”

This is not a recent teaching invented in response to modern American politics. It belongs to the ancient Christian moral tradition.

One of the earliest Christian documents outside the New Testament, the Didache, or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, dates from the earliest generations of the Church. In chapter 2, its description of the Christian “Way of Life,” it commands:

“Thou shalt not murder a child by abortion nor kill them when born.” (Didache 2:1-2)

Nearly nineteen centuries before our present political debates, Christians understood the protection of unborn and newborn children as a consequence of following Jesus Christ.

For these reasons, I believe that fidelity to the Church’s teaching on the sanctity of human life requires us to oppose Question 1. I therefore urge the faithful of this Diocese to vote “No.”

Question 2 concerns marriage. It asks whether Virginia's Constitution should be amended to remove its existing prohibition of same-sex marriage and provide that two adults may marry regardless of sex, gender, or race, with lawful marriages treated equally under Virginia law.

Again, the Anglican Catholic Church's teaching is clear.

The Affirmation of St. Louis states:

“The God-given sacramental bond in marriage between one man and one woman is God’s loving provision for procreation and family life.”

The Canons of the Anglican Catholic Church similarly affirm Christian marriage as the lifelong union of “one natural, biological man with one natural, biological woman.”

We hold this teaching not because it belongs to a particular political platform, but because we believe marriage was instituted by God and revealed in Holy Scripture. Our Lord Himself teaches, “Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,” and, “For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh” (St. Matthew 19:4–5).

For these reasons, because Question 2 would establish in our Commonwealth’s Constitution an understanding of marriage contrary to that which Christ taught and the Church has received, I urge the faithful of this Diocese to vote “No.”

This brings us to an important question: What is the responsibility of a Christian when entering the voting booth?

The Affirmation of St. Louis provides an answer. It declares that all people are responsible to their Creator for their “acts, motives, thoughts and words,” and further states:

“We believe, therefore, it is the duty of the Church and her members to bear witness to Christian Morality, to follow it in their lives, and to reject the false standards of the world.”

Voting is therefore not something entirely separate from our life in Christ. Like every other important decision we make, it should be approached prayerfully, thoughtfully, and with a conscience formed by Holy Scripture and the teaching of the Church.

I am not telling you which political party to support. I am not endorsing a candidate. Christians of good will may disagree about many questions of public policy—taxes, budgets, transportation, foreign affairs, education, and the best practical means of addressing poverty or promoting the common good.

But there are some matters that touch upon fundamental Christian teaching. The sacredness of innocent human life and the nature of Christian marriage are among them.

I therefore ask every eligible member of this Diocese to do three things during this election season.

First, pray. Ask God for wisdom and for a conscience governed not by fear, anger, party loyalty, social pressure, or political advertising, but by the mind of Christ.

Second, be informed. Read the actual language of the proposed constitutional amendments. Do not depend solely upon campaign advertisements, social media, or partisan descriptions of what they would do.

Third, vote with a Christian conscience. When an issue directly touches a truth clearly taught by Holy Scripture and confessed by the Church, we cannot simply set our faith aside when we enter the voting booth.

Our calling is greater than winning an election. It is to be faithful.

We are called to speak the truth in love; to defend those who cannot defend themselves; to uphold God's purposes for human life and the family; and at the same time to treat every human being—including those with whom we profoundly disagree—with dignity, charity, and respect.

Political parties come and go. Candidates come and go. Laws change. Constitutions may be amended.

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and for ever”.  (Hebrews 13:8)

Let us therefore approach this election neither in fear nor anger, but in prayer, charity, courage, and faithfulness, remembering that before we are citizens of any earthly commonwealth, “our conversation is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20).

May Almighty God grant wisdom to the people of this Commonwealth, protect the innocent and vulnerable, strengthen our families, and give each of us grace faithfully to seek His will in all things.

Faithfully yours in Christ,

The Right Reverend Jeffrey Scott Johnson
Bishop Ordinary
Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic States
Anglican Catholic Church