"The denomination has been going downhill for more than 30 years, but the Robinson consecration was a major blow. Someone turned the water spigot off and we went dry. People began to leave. Every bit of news coming out of the TEC was discouraging. We were also stuck in a 2,500 square foot building with no room for growth. Over the summer, when GC2006 failed to respect the Windsor report, refused to affirm that no one comes to the Father except through Jesus and labeled Scriptures as "anti-Semitic" - that was the final straw; the congregation fractured. Many of our faithful Episcopalians could not do the ECUSA thing any more. They made it clear the church was dead because we could not mount a budget for 2007."

"I felt called to resign," Waters told VOL. "I was artificially holding the church together. I went to Bishop Robert Moody and resigned as vicar of Holy Cross. I told him I could not continue to bring people to Christ only to have them almost immediately come in conflict with the non-Biblical teachings of the Episcopal Church. I asked the bishop if he would allow me to have Letters Dismissory to go to another province. Bp. Moody said no. He saw that as tantamount to 'abandonment of communion' because he did not believe I would have a "real" ministry in another province. He probably thought that he could not give Letters Dismissory and then watch me come back into the diocese under someone else."

Waters then said he sought ecclesiastical protection from Archbishop Greg Venables of the Province of the Southern.

"It all happened very fast. I preached my final sermon on the last Sunday of September. By Monday morning I submitted my resignation to Bishop Moody and then spoke with him on Tuesday. By Wednesday I had ecclesiastical protection from Archbishop Venables. About the same time, I realized that there was still a viable flock who desired to be Anglican and on the following Sunday, Oct. 1, 60 of the 100 members of the church met at an empty Methodist Church in downtown Owasso, right next door to City Hall. We named ourselves the Anglican Church of Saint Paul."

The gift of the church at no cost for at least a month was a "miracle", said Waters.

"The church has been for sale for over a year with no takers. We got in touch with the owners and they said we might have to share it with another group, but then that group said they wanted to go elsewhere. It was ours."

Waters could hardly contain his excitement. "We went from 2,500 square feet in one building to over 22,000 square feet - a church ten times the size - with over a dozen rooms for Sunday school, a gym, kitchen and a sanctuary that could seat over 200. It was an answer to many prayers. We could barely accommodate 100 in the old building. Now we can grow, the potential and future is unlimited."

"We walked away from nearly everything. We had to let everything go including $16,000 in the checking account. We had to pick up and start over, but God blessed us."

Waters said that there are several churches in Oklahoma under Archbishop Venables. "It feels like a new missionary diocese being formed. We have collegiality. There is St. James Anglican Church in Oklahoma City, Holy Spirit Anglican Church in Tulsa and a mission church forming in southern Tulsa."

With the Anglican Church of St. Paul's in Owasso, the future looks excellent with unlimited growth for preaching the gospel and winning souls to Christ, said Waters.

"It just amazes me that the Lord held that church for us, and I am confident that we will grow and be able to fill it. Over the summer the congregation felt called to start looking at what it meant to be a missional church, to proclaim the gospel to the poor, hungry and destitute in Owasso. We could not have done that before. We are now in the best part of the city to fulfill our call and we are perfectly positioned to proclaim the gospel to all in the area."

"We are no longer hindered by a national church that doesn't comprehend the essential nature of the cross, or proclaim Jesus as being the way to the Father. We are proud of our true Anglican heritage and can now be a missional church to the world. It will take some time, but the Lord has given us everything we need to accomplish His God-sized task," he said.

Asked if the connection with the Province of the Southern Cone might be permanent, Waters said, "I believe it is temporary until there is a national church structure in the U.S. we can come under."

Waters said he expects Bishop Moody to file letters of inhibition and deposition, but it is a formality as far as he is concerned. "It changes nothing. We are on a role for the gospel and the Kingdom of Jesus Christ and nothing can stop us proclaiming it within our Anglican heritage."

Waters has a wife Janey and four children. He graduated from Virginia Theological Seminary and was ordained a deacon in The Episcopal Church in 1990 and a priest in 1991.

END