Apparently-To: catholic@american.edu
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.catholic
Date:         Mon, 28 Sep 1992 20:46:47 PDT
From:         "John R. Covert 28-Sep-1992 2348" <covert@COVERT.ENET.DEC.COM>
Subject:      31 Resolutions for Mass. Episcopal Diocesan Convention (3 of 4)

15. RESOLUTION ON THE ORDINATION OF PEDOPHILES

RESOLVED, THAT THE ORDINATION OF PRACTICING PEDOPHILES TO THE
EPISCOPATE, PRIESTHOOD OR DIACONATE IS CONTRARY TO HOLY SCRIPTURE
AND THE TRADITION OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

                           Explanation

And who shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth
me.  But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe
in me, it were better for him that a mill stone were hanged about
his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
Matthew 18:5-6; Luke 17:2.  But now I have written unto you not to
keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a
fornicator.... I Corinthians 5:11.

Pedophilia is a particularly loathsome form of fornication whereby
an adult uses his God-given position of superior authority,
knowledge and strength to take carnal advantage of a child.
Despite the appallingly exploitative nature of this sin, there are
increasingly vocal elements of our society, such as the "North-
American Man-Boy Love Association", who are attempting, through the
use of arguments founded in worldly, subjective and relative
thought or belief systems, to justify and gain acceptance and
recruits for this aberrant behavior.  The Church, because of its
crucial role in the spiritual nurture of children is particularly
vulnerable to the destructive potential of this type of perversion
and deviance.  We address our clergymen as "Father".  A father must
be the protector not the abuser of his children in Christ.  It is
imperative that our Diocese be on record in the clearest, strongest
terms that this sin will not be tolerated in candidates to clerical
office or among its clergy.

In passing this Resolution, our Diocese will also be acting in a
way consistent with the principles contained in Resolution B-052a,
proposed by the national Church's Committee on Sexual Exploitation,
passed at the Phoenix convention in 1991, which reads, in part:
"That the 70th General Convention of the Episcopal Church declares
that sexual abuse, exploitation, coercion and harassment of adults
and minors by clergy and church employees are abuses of trust, a
violation of the Baptismal Covenant, contrary to Christian
character, and is [sic], therefore, wrong;...."

Submitted by the Massachusetts Convocation of the Episcopal Synod
of America
Contact: Richard Mercer tel. 508-785-1831

16. RESOLUTION ON THE ORDINATION OF TRANSVESTITES

RESOLVED, THAT THE ORDINATION OF PRACTICING TRANSVESTITES TO THE
EPISCOPATE, PRIESTHOOD OR DIACONATE IS CONTRARY TO HOLY SCRIPTURE
AND THE TRADITION OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

                           Explanation

The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither
shall a man put on a woman's garment:  for all that do so are
abomination unto the Lord thy God.  Deuteronomy 22:5.  Know ye not
that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?  Be not
deceived:  neither fornicators nor idolators, nor adulterous, nor
effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves nor
drunkards nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom
of God.  I Corinthians 6:9.

God created two complementary and distinct genders, male and
female, in carrying out his plan for creation and made it so that
only in union could they procreate. A person who fraudulently
dresses up in a way that seeks to cause confusion about that
person's gender identity is mocking God and the order He ordained.
Such gender and role confusion can have no place among the priestly
servants of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Ours is a time when worldly
contagions are insidiously spreading to the Christian community.
It is our sacred duty to protect our Diocesan community now by
going on record against this abomination.

Submitted by the Massachusetts Convocation of the Episcopal Synod
of America
Contact: Richard Mercer tel. 508-785-1831

17. RESOLUTION ON THE ORDINATION OF HOMOSEXUALS   [EU]

RESOLVED, THAT THE ORDINATION OF PRACTICING HOMOSEXUALS, BISEXUALS,
OR LESBIANS TO THE EPISCOPATE, PRIESTHOOD OR DIACONATE IS CONTRARY
TO HOLY SCRIPTURE AND THE TRADITION OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

                           Explanation

Many members of the Episcopal Church are disturbed and confused by
what appears to be an abandonment of traditional Christian morality
concerning sexual behavior; and those persons desire guidance from
their Church.  Since the 1970's, two emphases have emerged in the
Church.  The first has been a concern over the rise in hostilities
toward homosexual persons.  The 1976 General Convention passed a
Resolution (A-69, Homosexuals are children of God) which
acknowledged "that homosexual persons are the children of God who
have a full and equal claim with all other persons upon the love,
acceptance, and pastoral concern of the church."  More recently,
the Diocesan Convention, and General Convention, have passed
resolutions decrying homophobia.

The second emphasis has been the study, discussion and statement of
the Church's teaching on sexual morality.  The 1979 General
Convention passed Resolution A-53s, Sexuality of Ordinands:
     "Resolved, that this General Convention recommend to bishops,
pastors, vestries, commissions on ministry and standing committees,
the following considerations as they continue to exercise their
proper canonical functions in the selection and approval of persons
for ordination:
1. There are many human conditions, some of them in the area of
sexuality, which bear upon the suitability for ordination.
2. Every ordinand is expected to lead a life which is "a wholesome
example to all people" (Book of Common Prayer, pp. 517, 532, 544).
There should be no barrier to the ordination of qualified persons
of either heterosexual or homosexual orientation whose behavior the
church considers wholesome.
3. We reaffirm the traditional teaching of the Church on marriage,
marital fidelity and sexual chastity as the standard of Christian
sexual morality.  Candidates for ordination are expected to conform
to this standard.  Therefore, we believe it is not appropriate for
this Church to ordain a practicing homosexual or any person who is
engaged in heterosexual relations outside of marriage."

Since then, there have been efforts to modify the Church's teaching
at General Conventions, and House of Bishops meetings.  Proposals
which have been understood as weakening or reversing, and those to
strengthen or broaden the "1979 Statement," have failed.  The
Church continues to study biblical teaching, traditional Christian
instruction, and contemporary sources of knowledge, including the
biological and social sciences.  The goal is to understand, and
apply God's will in our generation.

One important scriptural passage, relating to this subject states:

     Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to
impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,
because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped
and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed
forever!  Amen.  For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable
passions.  Their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural,
and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were
consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless
acts with men and receiving in their own persons the due penalty
for their error.  Romans 1:24-27.
Other biblical passages which are relevant to this topic include:
Genesis 1:26-27, 2:18-25;  Genesis 19:1-11 and Judges 19:22-26;
Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13; Mark 10:4-9; I Corinthians 6:9,10 and I
Timothy 1:9,10; II Peter 2:6-10; and Jude 7.

Several interpretations may be ascribed to the voting results of
this or any resolution.  The 1979 Statement has been criticized as
giving mixed or opposite messages, as well as, really being
directed at non-celibate homosexual persons, in the guise of
something broader.

This Resolution is narrow and specific.  It is intended to give
guidance to and for non-celibate (practicing) homosexual persons
who seek ordination.  It is intended to be a reaffirmation, by this
Convention, of that aspect of the 1979 Statement.

Submitted by the Massachusetts Chapter of Episcopalians United
Contact: The Reverend Thomas White tel. 617-447-6106

SEE explanation under RESOLUTION ON SODOMY for a more complete
discussion of non-celibate homosexual behavior/relationships.

18. RESOLUTION ON THE ORDINATION OF WOMEN

RESOLVED, THAT THE ORDINATION OF WOMEN TO THE EPISCOPATE OR
PRIESTHOOD AND THEIR PURPORTED EXERCISE OF THE SACRAMENTAL
FUNCTIONS OF A BISHOP OR PRIEST IS CONTRARY TO HOLY SCRIPTURE,
TRADITION AND THE CONSTITUTION OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

                           Explanation

Contrary to the Constitution

For some this matter may appear settled because General Convention
changed the National Church Canons.  However, it is a matter that
the delegates of this Diocese have not voted.  Those Canons may
purport to permit the ordination of women, but the Constitution has
not been changed.  The Preamble of the Constitution reads in part
" The Episcopal Church....is a constituent member of the Anglican
Communion, a Fellowship within the One, Holy, Catholic, and
Apostolic Church of those duly constituted Dioceses, Provinces, and
regional Churches in communion with the See of Canterbury,
upholding and propagating the historic Faith and Order as set forth
in the Book of Common Prayer."  We are now in impaired communion
with the Church of England and most of the Anglican Communion
world-wide.

Contrary to Holy Scripture

This is a question of Faith and Order.  Has God ordered creation?
What is that order?  Are we faithful to God in following that
order?  Let us turn to Holy Scripture which is the revealed Word of
God.

The Bible gives us the order in the creation account (Genesis
2:18-23), "And the Lord said it is not good that man should be
alone; I will make an help meet for him...And the rib which the
Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto
the man."  See also Genesis 3:16.

The Bible also gives us a clear definition of roles in church
leadership, the qualifications for bishops, priests and deacons as
well as instruction in orderly worship.
"But I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the
man, but to be in silence." (1 Timothy 2:12).
"A bishop must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant,
sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;..."
(1 Timothy 3:2).
"Let the deacons be the husband of one wife, ruling their children
and their own houses well." (1Timothy 3:12).
"For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all
churches of the saints.  Let your women keep silence in the
churches:  for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are
commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.  And if
they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home:
for it is a shame for women to speak in church.  What? came the
word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?  If any man
think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge
that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the
Lord." (1 Corinthians 14:33-37).

Does this mean that women cannot serve in the church as teachers?
Older women can teach younger women and children. (Titus 2:3-5).
Does this mean that women's souls are of no account to the Lord?
NEVER!  Men and women stand equal in Christ. (Galatians 3:28).
Husbands and wives are co-heirs in the grace of life. (Peter
3:1-7). However, this text is often taken out of context and used
as a pretext for role reversal.  This is not a question of
equality, this is a question of role and headship.  Paul does not
contradict himself, because scriptures which are "God-breathed"
simply cannot be contradictory.  "The head of every man is Christ;
and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is
God." (1 Corinthians 11:3).  This relationship unfolded shows a
most perfect example of submission, that even Christ has submitted
to God as his head.  In the Trinity itself there is an equality of
substance, but a hierarchy of order; the Father, the Son and the
Holy Ghost.

The offices of priest or bishop are not intended to "empower" those
who hold them as if they were secular leadership positions.  As
Jesus said, "Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise
dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon
them.  But it shall not be so among you:  but whosoever will be
great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be
chief among you, let him be your servant..." (Matthew 20:25-27).



Contrary to Tradition

Some may say that 2000 years of Church Tradition is not binding on
this present age.  Still others may say that because women have
been "ordained" to the priesthood and the episcopate we must all
accept it.  The fact that the Anglican Communion and the Bishops
are not of one mind on this matter did not deter the purported
consecration a female Bishop in our Diocese.  Some will say that
nothing in the Bible forbids it, while others attack the Jewish
culture as chauvinistic and patriarchal treating the fact that
Jesus had only male disciples and male apostles as a cultural
phenomenon and nothing significant.  However, we know that Jesus
did not refrain from breaking with "traditions" which were man-
made.  He often showed the Pharisees how their additions to the law
and the way in which they kept the law had supplanted God's full
purpose in the law.

The Episcopal Church claims apostolic succession.  The apostles
chosen by Jesus were men, but beyond their maleness were other
qualifications.  The priest is the "icon" of Christ to the people.
The bishop is the shepherd of the flock, Right Reverend Father in
God.

Finally, God sent his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.  He chose
that finite space in time and history 2000 years ago for the
Incarnation.  It may be a mystery to us why, but that was God's
choice.  He didn't send his only begotten daughter.  He certainly
did honor one woman above all, "Behold from henceforth all
generations shall call me blessed." (Luke 1:48).  It was Mary's
obedience to the Lord that made it possible for the Savior to be
born.  "And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto
me according to thy word." (Luke 1:38).

This Diocese should support this Resolution and correct an error
that has done much to damage our Church.

Submitted by the Massachusetts Convocation of the Episcopal Synod
of America
Contact: Jane Shipman tel.617-298-1075

19. RESOLUTION ON FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF HETERODOXY

RESOLVED, THAT A FAITHFUL DIOCESE, PARISH OR MISSION IS NOT, BY ANY
CORRECT STANDARD OF CHRISTIAN STEWARDSHIP, MORALLY REQUIRED TO GIVE
ITS FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO ACTIVITIES OR POSITIONS MANIFESTLY
CONTRARY TO THE CHRISTIAN FAITH, EVEN IF THE ENTITY DEMANDING THAT
SUPPORT IS THE HIERARCHY OF THE CHURCH ITSELF.

                           Explanation

Go ye therefore into all nations baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son,and of the Holy Ghost.  Matthew 28:19.  As
ye go, preach, saying, The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.  Heal the
sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils:  freely
ye have received, freely give.  Provide neither gold, nor silver,
nor brass in your purses, nor scrip for your journey, neither two
coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves:  for the workman is worthy of
his meat.  Matthew 10:6-10.

Parishes and individuals have a responsibility to be good stewards
of the resources God has given them.  Neither the Church nor the
Diocese has any God-given authority to expect or demand that
parishes provide financial support to efforts and activities that
are not in obedient submission to the Divine Commission in Matthew
28:19.  The principal mission of the Church militant is to proclaim
the Good News of salvation through belief in Jesus Christ.  No
matter how well-intentioned, the institutional church cannot solve
the problems of the world by throwing money at them.  Money alone
cannot blot out bigotry, deprivation, disease, and violence.
Financial solutions are especially impractical as parishes and
individuals become confused about the Church's true role in
proclaiming the faith once given to the saints.  The Church should
not support organizations hostile to Christianity no matter how
charitable their activities.  The Church is not a political
institution.  John 18:36.  Only faith in Jesus can save mankind.
To solve the problems of the world, the Church can and must
proclaim the Good News to those who have not yet heard it or
inwardly digested it.  The Church and the Diocese must again boldly
re-commit to the Great Commission.  Seeing this, parishes and
individual Christians will surely give support voluntarily,
enthusiastically and with personal sacrifice.

Submitted by the Massachusetts Convocation of the Episcopal Synod
of America
Contact:  Richard Rothmund tel. 508-934-2923

20. RESOLUTION ON UNBORN CHILDREN   [NOEL]

RESOLVED, THAT AN UNBORN CHILD HAS A GOD-GIVEN LIFE WHICH IT IS
SIN TO TAKE AWAY INTENTIONALLY.

                           Explanation

Scientific Facts:

     *  At conception all the genetic material a human being will
     ever have is present.
     *  At four weeks from conception, on, the preborn child's
     heartbeat is present.
     *  At six weeks the child's brain activity is present.
     *  At eight weeks the child's unique fingerprints that are
     shared by no other human being are present.
     *  At twelve weeks 95% of the known structures, features and
     organs are present in the child and all the body parts needed
     to experience pain are present.  The preborn child can also
     suck his thumb, turn somersaults, jump, swallow, squint
     and move his tongue.

God's revelation to us in Holy Scripture is that He created us in
His image (Genesis 1:26).  He knit us together in our mother's womb
and knew our substance at conception (Psalm 139:13-16).  In Isaiah
49:1 Scripture also tells us that from the body of our mother He
named us.  In naming us, God takes ownership for us and establishes
an individual relationship with us.

It is undeniable that both science and God's revelation clearly
teach us that life begins at conception and that a unique human
life has been created.

The Episcopal Church recognized this in the 1988 General Convention
when she said that "All human life is sacred, hence it is sacred
from inception until death."

It is equally clear from Holy Scripture and the teaching of the
Church from her beginning, that, as God made man in his own image,
killing another human being is sin.  In Genesis 9:6 this truth is
explicitly linked to judgment where scripture says, "Whosoever
sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for God
made man in His own image."

While judgment belongs to God alone, it is the Church that is
called to declare what God has revealed as sin.

Submitted by the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Organization
of Episcopalians for Life
Contact:  G. Allan Perry tel. 617-891-9349

21. RESOLUTION ON ABORTION AS CHILD ABUSE   [NOEL]

RESOLVED, THAT AN INTENTIONAL ABORTION OF AN UNBORN HUMAN BEING
IS A FORM OF CHILD ABUSE.

                           Explanation

Now, most everyone is very sensitive to child abuse.  The very
first lesson that new mothers and fathers need to learn is to
protect and preserve their unique, one-of-a-kind baby.  They must
begin protecting their child from the moment of conception onward.

Inflicting significant pain upon children is obviously child abuse.
Scientific studies show that by eight weeks an unborn child will
move away from painful stimuli.  Half of all abortions are
performed at or past the eight week mark.  The most common method
of abortion is suction curettage in which a hollow plastic tube
with a sharp edge is used to tear the child apart.

It is appalling that a society which is willing to prosecute a
mother who abuses her child through alcohol or drug abuse during
pregnancy will permit a mother to allow the child to be torn limb
from limb and killed.

Since abortion was decriminalized in 1973, there has been a
fivefold increase in child abuse incidents(not counting aborted
children).  The dramatic increase in child abuse is symptomatic of
society's moral decline and the tragedy that life is no longer
considered to be sacred.

Callous disregard for human life inside the womb inevitably leads
to disrespect for human life outside the womb as well.  The
acceptance of abortion sends a bad message, a message that children
are toys to be used and abused, and discarded after use.

Submitted by the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Organization
of Episcopalians for Life
Contact:  John Covert tel. 508-263-5433

22. RESOLUTION ON EXPERIMENTATION WITH THE BODIES OF UNBORN
    CHILDREN   [NOEL]

RESOLVED, THAT SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENTATION USING THE TISSUE, ORGANS
OR BODY PARTS OF A VOLUNTARILY ABORTED CHILD, HUMAN FETUS OR HUMAN
EMBRYO IS SIN.

                           Explanation

     Scientific experimentation for the purpose of finding a cure
for a disease does not excuse the scientist from treating all human
life as sacred and thus from proceeding in his experiments along
lawful, moral lines.

     How are fetal cells actually acquired for research purposes?
Swedish researchers have described the procedure used for obtaining
fetal neuron transplant cells used for Parkinson's disease.  A
pregnant woman is placed on an operating table, her cervix is
dilated, the bag of amniotic fluid is broken, and an instrument
called a cannula is inserted into the uterus and aimed at the head
of the living child.  Then the skull is drilled open and a suction
device is driven into the brain.  The brain tissue is then
suctioned out and preserved with ice.  Following this, the remains
of the infant's body are aborted.  Similar procedures are used to
"harvest" fetal pancreas, fetal liquid and fetal thymus tissue.
See "Human Fetal Dopamine Neurons Grafted Into the Striatum in Two
Patients With Severe Parkinson's Disease," Lindvait et al.,
Archives of Neurology, Vol. 48, June, 1989, pp. 615-18.

     In our country, by federal regulation (45 Code of Fed. Regs.
46.101-46.409) scientific experimentation approved by the
Department of Health and Human Services using tissues, organs or
body parts of a living person requires that the person who is the
subject in the experiment be informed about the procedures he is to
undergo and that the person give voluntary consent to those
procedures.  The regulations cover any risk or discomfort to the
subject.

     An unborn child, human fetus or human embryo is a living
person in God's eyes and is not capable of being consulted for
informed consent.  Even if that innocent unborn baby itself, or
through her or his parents, were capable of informed consent, that
child could not rightfully consent to his or her own murder or
dismemberment.  This Diocese should reject and condemn the tearing
of babies apart so that their bodies may be used in medical
experiments.

In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and
great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be
comforted, because they are not.  Matthew 2:18; Jeremiah 31:15.

Submitted by the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Organization
of Episcopalians for Life
Contact: Eva Murphy tel. 617-665-7572

23. RESOLUTION ON EUTHANASIA   [NOEL]

RESOLVED, THAT INTENTIONAL EUTHANASIA OF A HUMAN BEING IS SIN.

                           Explanation

God creates each life; the life which God creates is not ours to
destroy.  As John Locke demonstrated in his Second Treatise on
Government, our body is the property of God's labor.  We cannot
dispose of someone else's property at our own will: that is theft.
But the issue of Euthanasia focuses on the problem of human
suffering as much as on bodily ownership.  The arguments against
suffering are at the heart of debates over defining the "quality of
life" and determining the boundaries of medical technology.  As
Christians our model of life is found in Christ.  His life was the
way of the Cross.  Therefore, as sons and daughters of God through
the Lordship of Christ, suffering is something we are called to do.
Illness is often a means of grace, of blessing, "strength made
perfect in weakness".  See 2 Corinthians 12:7-10.  It gives the
individual sufferer and his family and friends time to order
earthly relations and to prepare for our ultimate end, eternal
life.  It is presumptuous of an individual to know when one's time
is up, to judge the usefulness of one's own or another's earthly
life.  Who can know the mysterious purposes for which God has
called us, in health and in suffering?  Faith in the sovereignty of
God means that nothing occurs by chance or unnecessarily.  And the
Cross is our symbol of patient perseverence, to follow Jesus' path
to our heavenly home with God.  To choose to end one's own or
another's life denies the sovereignty of God, the reality of the
Cross.  Euthanasia, whatever the human motive, represents the
ultimate rejection of God as Creator; it is the destruction of His
creation and denial of His Providence.

     Job learned after continued suffering and murmuring: "I know
that thou canst do all things, and that no purpose of thine can be
thwarted (42:2)....Therefore I have uttered what I do not
understand, things too wonderful for me that I do not know."
(42:3).  Jesus, praying at the Mount of Olives in anticipation of
His arrest and crucifixion, said: "Father, if thou art willing,
remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will. but thine, be
done."  Luke 22:42-44. It is clear from Judeo-Christian teaching
that there is a Divine purpose to human suffering.  It is also
clear that God calls us to patient perseverence until His will be
done.

Submitted by the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Organization
of Episcopalians for Life
Contact: Barbara Whitlock tel. 508-371-3086

24. RESOLUTION ON ADULTERY

RESOLVED, THAT ADULTERY IS SIN.

                           Explanation

     The unanimous historical witness of the Church has been that
adultery is always sinful.  We call upon the Diocese of
Massachusetts to reaffirm this basic standard of Christian
morality.

     The adulterer breaks his/her marriage vow and defrauds his/her
spouse.  Even worldly persons recognize that adultery is wrong
because it is a violation of the trust and a betrayal of one's
spouse.

     We Christians recognize that adultery is sin against one's
spouse and against God.  God created humans male and female and
established marriage as a lifelong bond.  Marriage, life-long,
monogamous, heterosexual marriage, is more than a human
institution; rather it is a God-ordained holy state.  As we learn
from Genesis 2:24: "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his
mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one
flesh."  This principle was reiterated by our Lord using these same
words.  See Matthew 19:3-9; Mark 10:4-9.  Marriage is part of the
very order of creation: to violate that order is to rebel against
the Creator.

     Marriage is also a Sacrament, an effective conveyor of Grace.
The marriage bond is used throughout the Hebrew Bible as a type of
the relationship between the LORD and Israel.  Just as spiritual
idolatry is commonly compared to marital infidelity, so we are to
understand that adultery is a betrayal of God as well as of one's
spouse.  As the Church is the Bride of Christ, who will never be
unfaithful to her, so too are husband and wife called to
faithfulness.

Submitted by the Massachusetts Convocation of the Episcopal Synod
of America
Contact: David Trumbull tel. 617-876-6004
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