The answer is a matter of faith. We witness to what we believe, he says.

Bishop Charleston should take a refresher course in N.T. Greek. The origin of the word 'witness' comes from the Greek word 'marturion' from which we get martyr - that is, men and women who would lay down their lives for the gospel if called upon to do so. Many were witnesses to the resurrection, and those who were not, accepted the testimony of those who did, and believed it enough that if called upon to do so, would lay down their lives as witnesses to the truth about Jesus, his salvific death and bodily resurrection.

So the question then is this: The vast majority of ECUSA's priests and bishops (not necessarily the laity) no longer have confidence in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and his substitutionary death at the cross to take away our sin. They have, in St. Paul's words, imbibed "another gospel" which is no gospel at all. They believe in Griswold's 'gospel' of pluriform truths and his belief that we can 'meet on a plain somewhere beyond good and evil' courtesy of Sufi Rumi. He regularly invites us all to a deeper place without saying exactly where that is (some of us think it might actually be hell) and he excoriates as "evil" those who would impede the pathway of sexual enlightenment to incorporate deviant behaviors under the rubric of pansexuality and a new more enlightened understanding of God's ways with men.

In truth, Bishop Griswold has turned truth on its head to accommodate a fleeting deviant sexuality in the name of inclusivity and spiritual diversity.

And this is what Bishop Charleston wishes us to give witness to?

It is not without its significance that Methodist theologian Thomas Oden described Charleston's Episcopal Divinity School as a "post-Christian, any orifice, proto-Marxist, ultra-feminist institution", and therefore a 'witness' to something quite different from what the Early Church witnessed to.

Says Charleston: "In the Episcopal Church, we believe in Jesus Christ. We believe in the Bible. We believe in the Good News. In fact, we believe so strongly in all of these essential parts of our shared faith that we are not afraid to disagree with one another about what they mean to us."

Wrong Bishop Charleston. What we disagree about are not only essentials, they are issues that have eternal consequences because of the choices we make. Ask yourself a question, would you risk the Apostle Paul's statement "that fornicators, adulterers and homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom" if there was a 50/50 chance he might be right. What a terrible gamble to take. Poker players don't risk their all for odds like that.

And what of resolution B001 which called on the bishops of the Episcopal Church to uphold some of the basic doctrines of the Christian faith and, when put to the test, failed by a margin of 60 to 40. The fact that approximately 60 percent of our bishops voted against the resolution speaks volumes! The failure to pass that resolution was a shameful moment in our history.

THIS is what we gave witness to, in case Bishop Charleston has forgotten. We told the church universal and the world that our bishops did not believe their beliefs and we wonder why the ECUSA is in 'impaired' or 'broken communion' with the vast majority of Anglican Primates as well as the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches!

Bishop Charleston again: "We welcome difference as the active presence of God's Holy Spirit moving amongst us. Our witness is not to conformity but to community. As the Episcopal Church we are not concerned that everyone in the pews believes exactly the same thing, in the same way, at the same time. Instead, we are concerned that no one is left out of those pews because of what they believe, who they are, or where they come from."

Wrong again Bishop Charleston. On ESSENTIALS there IS complete conformity, especially on such basic doctrines as the deity of Christ, (and his full humanity), salvation by faith through grace alone in the finished work of Christ at the cross, the bodily resurrection and return of Christ to establish his Kingdom. On sexuality issues the church too, has been consistent for 2,000 years; sexual relations only between a husband and wife (to violate it is not the worst sin for sure), but the repercussions for violating that have been enormous with the highest number of sexuality transmitted diseases in the history of the world. AIDS has killed and continues to kill millions of people throughout the world for sex outside of heterosexual marriage.

No one is arguing that people be "left out of the pews" because of race or gender, that has never been at issue; all are invited, but not on the basis of inclusion but conversion, not on the basis of diversity but transformation. Bishop Charleston glosses over this. He won't name it.

"Our witness," says Charleston, "is to the unconditional love of God through the grace of Christ Jesus. Therefore, we accept the risk of grace by not setting limits to love with our own judgment of others."

This is code for the acceptance of sodomite behavior. No one denies God's unconditional 'chesed' (Heb) love, but the same God demands obedience to his laws and confession, repentance and faith when we break them. Charleston will have none of that. He does not want to "set limits" and while we are called upon not to judge persons we do judge behaviors or none of our testosterone-driven children would make it past 15.

Charleston again: "There are no border guards at the doors of the Episcopal Church. We respect the dignity of every human being and are never ashamed of who sits next to us in worship. We are all the children of God just as we are all sinners in need of mercy. There are no walls around the Episcopal Church. We believe that God is at work in the world. We are not concerned that this world sees us as perfect, pure, or powerful. Instead, we are concerned that people see us practicing justice, doing mercy, and walking humbly with the God we believe loves us all equally."

Answer: Whoever said we were perfect, and 'practicing justice, doing mercy' is not just a matter of pouring millions of dollars of hard-earned money from the laity into pushing dubious UN resolutions upholding Frank Griswold's notion of 'mission', but individual congregations reaching out to the poor, the lost and the lonely. (My own parish reaches out to Lakota Indian tribes as well as the poorest of the poor in northern Uganda, while building homes 20 miles from its own town.) Orthodox parishes don't need a lecture from Bishop Charleston about doing good works. I know a parish in Plano, Texas that has poured hundreds of thousands of dollars and weekend personnel into Katrina torn New Orleans, to help a single Episcopal parish priest resurrect his church and congregation. Ironically liberal parishes can't do the same because they are small and dying. It is the CONSERVATIVE parishes that are doing the work, not Bishop Charleston's failing and aging liberal confessors.

Charleston talks about fear. "Our witness is to hope, not fear. We believe that men and women, no matter how separated they may think they are by religious conviction, cultural value, or social location are never truly apart unless they choose to be. We have nothing to fear from one another unless we allow fear to be our witness. While the distance between us may seem great and the path to reconciliation impossibly long, we have the guidance and comfort of the Holy Spirit."

This is code for 'it doesn't matter what you believe so long as you're sincere.' Nonsense. Orthodox Episcopalians are not driven by fear even if Charleston thinks they are. They are driven by knowing the truth and proclaiming it against its revisionist despisers who want to change the message to suit themselves.

"Our witness is to mission," says Charleston. But what kind of mission are we talking about? It is not the Great Commission. Griswold and Charleston never talk about that understanding of mission because that is embarrassingly about conversion and transformation and that is not their language. There's is the language of inclusion not conversion and orthodox Episcopalians will never buy it. They see millions of dollars being poured into hopeful resolutions for peace on earth, economic engineering for which they have few if any skills (Most bishops can barely run their own dioceses let alone anything else, just look at what Charles Bennison is doing to the Diocese of Pennsylvania!)

Charleston says there are no loyalty oaths in the Episcopal Church, but there are many jobs for those who want to help heal a broken world. Really. More nonsense. The gospel is a loyalty oath, the creeds are loyalty oaths and Holy Scripture is our source for the loyalty we have in Jesus and the basis for healing a broken world. Charleston just doesn't get it.

"In the Episcopal Church, we stand together not even if we disagree, but precisely because we disagree. We practice the radical hope of God. We embody a faith that says there are many rooms in the house of God, but one home for us all if we choose to live together," he says.

Rubbish. As the situation now stands we have two different religions in the Episcopal Church and they are at war with each other. (Se Paul Zahl's fine piece, WHAT ARE WE FIGHTING FOR here: http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=4081

Charleston asks, "What witness will we make? What alternative will we offer? What fresh vision will we share? Will we retreat into yet smaller factions of "true believers," whether from the Right or the Left, smug in our self righteous assurance that we have the truth? Will we struggle over property and power as though these things had lasting importance for us? Will we vilify one another and become agents of suspicion among the very people we love? Will we worry more about what people think of us than what God expects of us?"

The answer is simple; not unless we are united around essentials and about the nature and essence of the gospel. We can make no witness to what is true unless we know the truth that sets people free from themselves and from their sins.

"It is time to make our witness," says Charleston. But this begs the question, witness to what exactly? If we cannot unite around the core issues of faith first then we may just as well be the Kiwanis Club, the Republican Party at prayer or a high class social service agency doing good works to help our fellow men.

If we are to give witness to a hurting world we must proclaim by word and deed first the Good News, and then do the good works that are the proper and necessary evidence of the faith we proclaim.

Bishop Charleston muddies the waters with a witness that ends up being no witness at all. The world is both spiritually and physically hungry; but the church's business is to witness first to the saving grace found in Jesus Christ, and then follow it with appropriate good works. The Episcopal Church is dying from a lack of spiritual food and the spiritual starvation is, regrettably, being foisted upon us by the likes of Bishop Charleston and his seminary which has no gospel and therefore no real witness to proclaim.

END