Bolivian Bishop Makes Pastoral Visit to Anglican Church in Elizabethtown KY

ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. -- The Rt. Rev. Frank Lyons, Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Bolivia, will install the Rev. Kent Litchfield, a retired Episcopal priest, as rector of Holy Apostles Church this Sunday, Oct. 16.Bishop Lyons will also baptize, confirm and receive members into the church which was formed in July by several former Episcopalians who walked away from Christ Church in Elizabethtown.

According to Rev. Litchfield, the recent practices and teaching of the Episcopal Church are in violation of scripture and go against the tradition, faith and order of Anglicanism and Christianity. The crisis in the Episcopal Church erupted in 2003 when its general convention voted to approve the development of rites to bless same-sex unions and to consecrate a non-celibate homosexual bishop. What is more telling is the church's failure to affirm the basic tenets of the faith during that same general convention, Litchfield said. Proposed resolution, B001, sought to affirm such basic beliefs as: the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments contain all things necessary to salvation; it is not lawful for the Church to ordain or approve anything contrary to God's written word; and the Apostles' Creed and Nicene Creed are sufficient statements of the Christian faith. This "mom and apple pie" resolution was rejected by the House of Bishops and never made it to the House of Deputies for a vote.

Holy Apostles is the fourth Anglican church to be established in Kentucky and the only one under Bolivian supervision. Two other new Anglican churches in Kentucky, St. Andrew's in Versailles and Apostles in Lexington, are under the supervision of Ugandan bishops. A third church, St. Patrick's Anglican in Lexington, is part of the Anglican Mission in America which has several American bishops who serve under the authority of the Anglican archbishops of Rwanda and Southeast Asia. Bishop Lyons provides episcopal oversight and pastoral care for 14 Anglican churches throughout the United States, including All Saints Anglican Church in Evansville, Indiana. AAC blog