In extemporaneous remarks prior to the start of the Holy Eucharist on July 15, the Rt. Rev. Ronald H. Haines, retired Bishop of Washington and interim rector at one of two congregations calling itself Christ Church in Accokeek, Md., said his congregation was one small part of a larger effort to destabilize those who support the social gospel.

"You are here at [Accokeek,] the local point where the lightning touches the ground," Bishop Haines is quoted by freelance journalist Robert Stowe England. "It's a small piece of geography, but it's a part of the events of a big international [effort] ... you all know about the national aspects of this."

"This is a thinking person's church," Bishop Haines told THE LIVING CHURCH in a telephone interview July 17. "There needs to be more transparency to the way issues are presented and then people can draw their own conclusions."

Bishop Haines described the social gospel to which he referred as issues of institutional justice.

In Accokeek, the vestry of Christ Church and St. John's Chapel in Pomonkey, Md., issued a call to the Rev. Samuel Edwards. The Rt. Rev. Jane Holmes Dixon, Bishop Pro Tempore of Washington, refused to grant Fr. Edwards a license, but did not make her objections public until after the 30-day period specified by church law.

Despite Bishop Dixon's refusal, Fr. Edwards remains as rector. An unverifiable percentage of the congregation is worshiping at the nearby Moyaone Community Center. This is the congregation recognized by the diocese, and Bishop Haines is serving as its interim rector at least through the remainder of the summer.

During his July 15 remarks, Bishop Haines said organized destabilizing efforts against the social gospel are occurring in many mainline churches in the United States. In the Episcopal Church, he specifically mentioned the American Anglican Council (AAC), a non-profit organization whose mission statement reads in part "to support one another in accordance with classical Anglican orthodoxy."

The AAC, said Bishop Haines, spent $1 million at the 1998 Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops in order to influence votes, particularly over a sexuality resolution in which bishops by a margin of more than 7-1 declared "homosexual practice incompatible with scripture."

When questioned by TLC about the source of his information, Bishop Haines said he was relying on the fact that the Diocese of Washington spent roughly $400 to host a single relatively small social event at Lambeth. The AAC, by contrast, he said, had a whole building and sponsored free phone banks and numerous meals and social events.

"Do the math," he said.

Bruce Mason, AAC media officer and program coordinator, said the charge of a conspiracy and the $1 million figure was "absurd." Total AAC spending on international affairs during 1998, of which Lambeth was only a part, was less than $70,000.

"A 7-1 resolution sounds to me like the mainstream," Mr. Mason responded. "He's essentially calling the Anglican Communion a bunch of conspirators."