Also present for the occasion was Diane Knippers, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, and The Rev. David “Doc” Loomis, rector of the Hudson Anglican Fellowship in Ohio and director of the Great Lakes Anglican Renewal church planting group.

Sauls wrote saying, "I want you to know that on behalf of the clergy and people of the Diocese of Lexington, I completely forgive your behavior in our diocese last Sunday. In recognition that you are a brother in Christ, I happily grant the permission you needed to preach here retroactively. I do hope that should you be in Lexington again you will let Ginger and I know. We would love to have you as a guest in our home, as well as in this diocese.

The letter was signed

Faithfully yours,
Stacy F. Sauls
Bishop of Lexington

Bishop Allison responded.

Sept. 18, 2004

"Thank you for your most courteous letter. I had a delightful time with the congregation of St. Andrew's and I hope our visit was an encouragement for them. They are frustrated and even feel betrayed that the House of Bishops approved the consecration of a practicing homosexual bishop, but more importantly voted down the very foundation upon which our Church is built and the vows they took at their consecration. Canons cannot establish our unity without our sworn faith. We have vowed to pass on to the next generation the faith that we have received but we have cast it aside for a mere secular porridge."

I am afraid that Richard John Neuhaus was right when he said, "When orthodoxy is optional it soon becomes proscribed."

With gratitude for your kind letter, I am

Faithfully,
C. FitzSimons Allison

END