Wednesday, July 24, 2002
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Wednesday, July 24, 2002 |
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CEC leaders take firm stand on pro-life issue Leaders of the Charismatic Episcopal Church at its national level recently took a bold and united stand on the pro-life issue. According to a news release submitted by the Rev. Canon David Epps, pastor of Christ the King Charismatic Episcopal Church in Peachtree City and Canon to the Ordinary, Diocese of Georgia, the U.S. House of Bishops of the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church (ICCEC) recently adopted "A Declaration on the Sanctity of Human Life," at its meeting in San Clemente, Calif. The declaration states that "God alone has dominion over human life and over the process by which it comes into being...," and "...the human being is to be respected and treated as a person from the moment of fertilization..." Condemning the deliberate destruction of innocent persons as "...unethical, immoral, evil and sinful..." the statement adds that the "Church has the duty and the obligation to proclaim to all the earth the sanctity of human life, the dignity of human life, and respect for human life..." and adds, "...human life begins at conception." Furthermore, the statement adds that "... no government has the right to alter the law of God..." and that any such law that "... goes contrary to the law of God concerning human life is immoral." The bishops went on record affirming that the destruction of the human embryo, as an end to a means, such as embryonic stem cell research, and the artificial creation of human life through cloning are "...unethical, immoral, intrinsically evil and sinful..." Epps said that the declaration is not technically binding on ICCEC congregations, but added, "the statement is, for practical purposes, considered as such and, with the forthcoming of a canon on the matter, will be formally and legally binding on all churches." According to Touchstone magazine, the ICCEC is the second largest of the 28 Episcopal/Anglican denominations in the United States. ICCEC congregations in the metro Atlanta area include Christ the King CEC, Peachtree City; St. Matthew's CEC, Hogansville; Prince of Peace CEC, Peachtree City; St. Andrew's CEC, Covington; Holy Trinity, Smyrna; and Christ the Redeemer CEC, Canton. A number of other congregations also are located in middle and southern Georgia. |
