\u201cWe have tried every act of reconciliation. We have tried to reconcile with the Episcopal Church and there is no reconciliation in their hearts, \u201c says Waymon Singleton, who has been a member of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Maitland for thirty-four years.<\/p>\n
Waymon and his wife Elaine are supporting their pastor, Rev. John Nyhan, in his decision to separate the congregation from the Central Florida Diocese. According to Rev. Nyhan, the Episcopal Church, USA has been shifting to a more liberal path since the 1960s.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a problem holding up as a model for the Christian life, and when you become a priest and are ordained –and that comes with the calling that you must be an example with the Christian life — we object of that lifestyle being help up as a model for the Christian life, \u201c says Nyhan.<\/p>\n
Nyhan says the rift is not just about the homosexual issue. He says the House of Bishops, which presides over all churches in the United States, is not following the guidance of the Holy Scriptures.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn our seminaries they have taught a very liberal and deconstructed understanding of what scripture is, and what they have done is stripped it of having any authority. They\u2019ve rendered the scriptures of being an uninspired book.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
Nyhan, along with other church leaders, urged Central Florida Bishop John Howe to oppose changes and keep the diocese on a more traditional course, but the bishop decided to side with the church’s current path in the spirit of reconciliation. Nyhan says the decision left him with no other option.<\/p>\n