The S*%# Hits The Fan, So Get Ready For The Mess
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&e=2&u=/ap/20031102/ap_on_re_us/gay_bishop
Gene Robinson is now a bishop. Let the games...er...fallout begin. Anyone who has dealt with Western unilateralism before knows that this was going to happen anyway, despite worldwide objections and cries for postponement. Presiding Griswold was there in all of his niceness, politeness, and muddled language. The Episcopal Church will never be the same...
This is a good thing. Yes, with all the sadness and pain that comes with the impending ending of my relationship with ECUSA, I think this is a good thing. Many of us have felt less and less at home in the Episcopal Church as of late, as the gospel message of radical love and transformation has been overtaken by mushy political correctness. We have witnessed clergy and future clergy who know little about the Bible, and really don't care too much for it, shunning it as a vestige of bygone times. Bishops have been blatant heretics, or else willing to sacrifice just about any classical Christian belief on the altar of politeness and surface unity. Open Communion is practiced widely despite being against the canons and Church tradition. And we must ask, which canons do we obey and which are we allowed to ignore? Perhaps I should ignore the canons requiring time between postulancy and candidacy, what would it hurt? If Gene can do it, why can't I? I could be a priest now! Oh well, a Church with 2.3 million members which has declined around 40% since the 1960s, with regular attendance just under a million, is hardly influential, so at least very few will ever have to rationalize such mental and canonical acrobatics. And I no longer will have to rationalize either. I can't do it anymore. There are too many catholic options in the world right now, from Orthodoxy to the Charismatic Episcopal Church, for me to constantly bark and strive against the Episcopal Church. And then there is Anglicanism as an option, which has not been tried in ECUSA as a whole in quite awhile.
As you can tell, my faith in ECUSA has waned. In my book, the moral and ethical authority of ECUSA is somewhere between the United Nations and the Christian Coalition. I would rather seek moral guidance from Homer Simpson (at least he's funny) than from most bishops in ECUSA. Many of us will be discerning where to go and what to do in the upcoming months. We must be patient through the process, recognizing that it took years for the Church to get this way, and it cannot be dealt with overnight. Soon realignment will happen, where traditional parishes in the US (and maybe Canada) will align together under traditional bishops, under the primacy of a foreign bishop, distinct from the Episcopal Church. Very soon these Primates will appoint an Anglican leader for these parishes and dioceses, and these "confessing" churches will no longer be Episcopalian, but Anglican. The Archbishop of Canterbury has already recognized this system as valid, and the process has already begun.
The pain of leaving a Church, or rather a Church leaving you and the worldwide body of Anglicanism and catholicism, is great, much like the ending of a romantic relationship where one partner has been unfaithful. First there is great pain, anger, and sadness at the prospect, since the time and energy devoted over the years have been tremendous. Then, after awhile, there is the excitement of starting anew, realizing that being with an unfaithful partner was hardly fulfilling, and that now the opportunity exists to find someone new and faithful. We have this chance now. Lord Have Mercy.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&e=2&u=/ap/20031102/ap_on_re_us/gay_bishop
Gene Robinson is now a bishop. Let the games...er...fallout begin. Anyone who has dealt with Western unilateralism before knows that this was going to happen anyway, despite worldwide objections and cries for postponement. Presiding Griswold was there in all of his niceness, politeness, and muddled language. The Episcopal Church will never be the same...
This is a good thing. Yes, with all the sadness and pain that comes with the impending ending of my relationship with ECUSA, I think this is a good thing. Many of us have felt less and less at home in the Episcopal Church as of late, as the gospel message of radical love and transformation has been overtaken by mushy political correctness. We have witnessed clergy and future clergy who know little about the Bible, and really don't care too much for it, shunning it as a vestige of bygone times. Bishops have been blatant heretics, or else willing to sacrifice just about any classical Christian belief on the altar of politeness and surface unity. Open Communion is practiced widely despite being against the canons and Church tradition. And we must ask, which canons do we obey and which are we allowed to ignore? Perhaps I should ignore the canons requiring time between postulancy and candidacy, what would it hurt? If Gene can do it, why can't I? I could be a priest now! Oh well, a Church with 2.3 million members which has declined around 40% since the 1960s, with regular attendance just under a million, is hardly influential, so at least very few will ever have to rationalize such mental and canonical acrobatics. And I no longer will have to rationalize either. I can't do it anymore. There are too many catholic options in the world right now, from Orthodoxy to the Charismatic Episcopal Church, for me to constantly bark and strive against the Episcopal Church. And then there is Anglicanism as an option, which has not been tried in ECUSA as a whole in quite awhile.
As you can tell, my faith in ECUSA has waned. In my book, the moral and ethical authority of ECUSA is somewhere between the United Nations and the Christian Coalition. I would rather seek moral guidance from Homer Simpson (at least he's funny) than from most bishops in ECUSA. Many of us will be discerning where to go and what to do in the upcoming months. We must be patient through the process, recognizing that it took years for the Church to get this way, and it cannot be dealt with overnight. Soon realignment will happen, where traditional parishes in the US (and maybe Canada) will align together under traditional bishops, under the primacy of a foreign bishop, distinct from the Episcopal Church. Very soon these Primates will appoint an Anglican leader for these parishes and dioceses, and these "confessing" churches will no longer be Episcopalian, but Anglican. The Archbishop of Canterbury has already recognized this system as valid, and the process has already begun.
The pain of leaving a Church, or rather a Church leaving you and the worldwide body of Anglicanism and catholicism, is great, much like the ending of a romantic relationship where one partner has been unfaithful. First there is great pain, anger, and sadness at the prospect, since the time and energy devoted over the years have been tremendous. Then, after awhile, there is the excitement of starting anew, realizing that being with an unfaithful partner was hardly fulfilling, and that now the opportunity exists to find someone new and faithful. We have this chance now. Lord Have Mercy.
