We, the Clergy, Wardens, and Vestry of St. John’s, Dallas, Texas (an Anglican Communion parish in the Diocese of Dallas), do hereby declare our unchanging commitment to Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the only name by which any person may be sa ved; and we further acknowledge the solemn responsibility placed upon us when we hear His words, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (St. John 14:6);

and we further declare that we understand God to be revealed as the Holy and Undivided Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit;

and we further acknowledge the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, and to contain all things necessary to salvation;

and we further acknowledge and uphold the Creeds of the ancient and undivided Church to be unchanging and unchangeable statements of belief of the Christian faith.

Therefore, be it resolved that we disassociate ourselves and reject those actions of the 76th General Convention of the Episcopal Church which are contrary to the Christian faith and to the teachings of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church;

And be it further resolved that we pledge our support to work for an authentic expression of Anglicanism in the United States of America;

And be it further resolved that we will continue to work for the extension of the Kingdom and the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in this city of Dallas, neither diluting the faith nor diminishing the revealed truth of that faith as it has been delivered to us by the saints.

We, the Rector and Vestry of St John’s Episcopal Church, Dallas, Texas, are committed to the mission of our Lord and his Church in our community and around the world. We are disciples of Jesus Christ and accept the Holy Scriptures as God’s Word written, living and active, the ultimate authority in all matters of faith and practice. And we worship Almighty God as faithful members of his one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church, members of the Anglican Communion, and members of the Diocese of Dallas.

Like many in our diocese and abroad, we are deeply distressed by the actions of the 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church. The Convention has given clear indication that once again, in crucial matters of theology and morality, the Episcopal Church intends to walk apart from the Anglican Communion. The Convention refused to respond to the call, the spirit, and the requirements of the Windsor Report. And furthermore, it elected as its Presiding Bishop a person whose theological views and episcopal actions represent a radical departure from the Church’s biblical and theological foundations and whose public statements have trivialized the work and person of our Lord Jesus Christ.[1]

We are grateful for the way in which Bishop Stanton forthrightly acknowledged the crisis in the Episcopal Church in his recent pastoral letter. We are also grateful for the Standing Committee’s resolution of July 3, 2006, which calls on the Diocese to deal honestly and directly with the difficult realities we face in the days ahead.

Therefore, be it resolved: We, the Rector, Wardens, and Vestry of St. John’s, Dallas, do state and intend the following:

• To stay on a path of Christian worship, discipleship, and mission that is consistent with the clear teaching of Scripture, within the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church, and as faithful members of the Anglican Communion.
• To disassociate ourselves from any teaching, practice, or act of the General Convention which falls outside the bounds of biblical and historic Christian faith.
• To repent of any way in which we have contributed to bringing about this moment in the Episcopal Church.

Be it further resolved:

• We remain committed to the Anglican Communion Network and its charter to preserve a unified Anglican witness in North America. To this end, we stand with Network Dioceses (Fort Worth, San Joaquin, Pittsburgh, South Carolina, Springfield, and Central Florida) who, along with the Diocese of Dallas, are requesting pastoral protection and ecclesiastical accountability from the Archbishop of Canterbury.
• We are committed to the essential findings of the Windsor Report and especially its vision of a communion-wide Covenant. We acknowledge this as the best way forward for our global community, even if it means, in the words of the Archbishop of Canterbury, an “ordered and mutually respectful separation” of those who are able to affirm Communion teaching and those who are not.[2]
• We urge our Bishop, our Standing Committee, and the annual Convention of our diocese to explore disengaging and disassociating from those dioceses and organizations within the Episcopal Church that, in faith and practice, are walking away from the Anglican Communion.
• We call on every member of St John’s, Dallas, to join us in earnest prayer to Almighty God on behalf of our parish, our diocese, and the Anglican Communion.
• We remain confident of God’s faithful provision and direction to us through these days, knowing that “he who began a good work in [us] will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Phil 1:6)

Adopted unanimously: Monday, September 21, 2006