The presiding bishop of the U.S. Episcopal Church warned the Church of England not to foment schism in America, responding to a threat made over the possibility that the U.S. church will start ordaining actively gay bishops.
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said Sunday, in response to questions from The Washington Times, that calls by conservatives in the Church of England for recognition of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) over gay-related issues would wound her church, already split by the secession of conservative dioceses and congregations to form the ACNA.
She urged Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams to remember the “pain of many Episcopalians in several places of being shut out of their traditional worship spaces, and the broken relationships, the damaged relationships between people who have gone and people who have stayed.”
“Recognition of something like ACNA is unfortunately likely only to encourage” further secessions, she said, reminding the Church of England that “schism is not a Christian act.”
Consequences, Bishop Jefferts Schori, actions have consequences and none more than the unilateral ones undertaken by TEC over the past decade. You helped to make this bed, now you must be prepared to lie in it.
Just the quotes of the leading paragraphs associated with KJS – What hypocrisy! In Pittsburgh, no one on either side of the rift has been shut out of their church. A few may wish to cross over to another parish, but that’s not getting “shut outâ€. The radical progressives do want to litigate and shut the majority of the diocese out of their churches, while the moderates agree to share the cathedral. So again, I say what hypocrisy! The Being that is being kicked out of many TEC churches is God. Where does the PB get off saying that the CofE recognition of the ACNA is not Christian. It is the uncharitable behavior of the radical progressives, of which she appears to champion, that brings a negative reputation upon themselves.
So, by implication: continuing to recognize TEC despite a boatload of heretical statements over the years, heretical actions over the years, and now GC2009 where the Trinitarian God will be not only excised from the faith, but perhaps also the liturgy…..that IS a Christian thing to do???????
Again, she proves they are of brass.
It is pointless to continue to debate or talk to people like the PB. They are not debating, but justifying their actions and stating their position. They will continue to do what they are doing and ACNA will do what it is doing and the ABC will do what he will do.
Methinks Ms Schori might ponder the following:
1) the root cause of the pain and schism
2) her part in it
3) why hitherto obedient conservatives are now behaving as they are
4) how much money she has spent on lawsuits
5) the difference between her theology and that of mainstream Christianity throughout the ages
6) finally that one cannot both have cake and eat it
Ms Schori is correct. Schism is not a christian act ; but it is the unfortunate consequence of godly leaders not using the appropriate Christian response to false doctrine and practice – excommunication.
[blockquote]She urged Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams to remember the “pain of many Episcopalians in several places of being shut out of their traditional worship spaces, and the broken relationships, the damaged relationships[/blockquote]
Not to be crass, but this sounds an awful lot like crocodile tears to me. Whose scorched earth policy was it exactly to go after all depart churches and dioceses for their “traditional worship spaces?”
[blockquote]calls by conservatives in the Church of England for recognition of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) over gay-related issues would wound her church[/blockquote]
It would appear that consideration of neutral pronoun improvements to the ’79 liturgy are already having a “[i]lex orandi, lex credendi[/i]” effect? Perhaps one section would be improved to read:
[blockquote]S/he stretched out his/her arms upon the cross, and offered her/himself, in obedience to your will, a perfect sacrifice for the whole world.[/blockquote]
Read that way, the femaleness of this declaration could easily apply to His Bride, the Church. And truly, as KJS makes quite clear, His (The Episcopal) Church is still spreading their arms wide today. Will the ABC hammer in the nails? Tune in tomorrow, or next week, or next month, or next year, or next decade, to find out!
I note with interest that the Rite II Eucharist, Eucharistic Prayer A from which the above is excised no longer includes verbiage corresponding to:
[blockquote]who made there, by his one oblation of himself once offered, a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world[/blockquote]
I suppose this means that Christ and His (The Episcopal) Church are understood through R II, EP A to be repetitively offering themselves for the sins of the whole world. Which is perfectly consistent with KJS’s statement, eh?
Clemmitt
Schism between Christians is wrong, however I think most of us (all?) here realize that ECUSA has devolved into a vehicle for social justice – DO 25 is just one of the many, many steps they have taken along their secular path. That’s THEIR choice, but they need to live with the repercussions of that, namely that schism is inevitable, as the disagreement is no longer between Christians.
End of story.
Heretics have never failed to place their opinions above that of the Church. The PB is apparently incapable of irony, or, else, she is a “true believer” in her errors. St John’s letters demonstrate the duration of such in the life of the Church. The genuine question is whether or not the heretics will be held to account for their persistence in error and failure to repent by their brethren.
I suppose the CoE, the ACC, the ABC, and the Anglican Primates will have to do without the (declining) TEC monies, unless the heresies of the TEC are endorsed. The CoE, anyway, since they have condemned the actions of the CoSweden. (Hint! Hint! PB Schori.)
Unbelievable. Her hubris is beyond comprehension.
She likes airplane stories, see her big sermon. “Fly the plane!!” Well, that’s probably the job of every Kamikaze pilot, isn’t it? But don’t bellyache to someone across the ocean that you broke it and want someone else to fix it! What a stupid statement on her part. ECUSA is part of Anglicanism which is a schism in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. From within and from without. It means so much more to not be Anglican every miute.
I was once unbothered about my Anglican identity…I was Christian that is what mattered. Daily I now question that….being Anglican seems to be anti-Christian and I consider if my Lord is calling me elsewhere. Still it is only the inevitable consequence of the unbiblical innovation of WO in the 70’s