Christian leaders outside the Episcopal Church said the church’s handling of Thew Forrester has implications beyond the denomination.<\/p>\n
“If a so-called bishop does not agree with the central elements of the Christian faith, then he should not call himself a Christian, let alone a bishop\u201d\u201dnor should a church ordain him. He is an apostate from the Faith; and a church that ordains such a one is also apostate,” said George O. Wood, general superintendent of the Assemblies of God.<\/p>\n
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler agrees.<\/p>\n
“The difference between orthodoxy and heresy is of vital importance to every evangelical believer,” he said. “We should feel grief and pain whenever we see a church that is involved in this kind of basic theological turmoil and where we hear the truth of the gospel denied, because it compromises the gospel witness of Christians around the world.”<\/p>\n