Bennett Hill, a retired teacher, long-time parishioner, and historian of the parish has summed up Good Shepherd in three phrases. First is “orthodoxy,” which is to say faithful adherence to the Christian faith, little different from that of Roman Catholics or the Eastern Orthodox, found in the Bible, and the ancient creeds and traditions of the Church. Second is “the beauty of holiness,” which is to say to make worship as beautiful as can be made: Good Shepherd uses vestments, candles and incense in its liturgies and has fine music (though no professional choir). Finally, Mr. Hill lists “undying commitment to mission work;” Good Shepherd supports missionaries overseas, but the church also participates in soup kitchens and similar work in Philadelphia. In the 19th century, the church started a hospital, The Home and Hospital of the Good Shepherd, the first on the Main Line, which existed for 50 years. Good Shepherd is the “Mother Church” of three parishes it founded: Good Samaritan (Paoli), St. Martin’s (Radnor) and Christ Church (Villanova).
To this could be added a certain lack of interest in the social dimensions once so important in church going. Good Shepherd never charged pew rent. Today, the congregation is a real slice of America in its diversity. Parish life is a whirl of activity, from worship to coffee hours to a Mardi Gras party, but all somehow adult. The congregation is there for only one reason: because they consider the church to be the real thing””straight, no chaser.
Churches like Good Shepherd, however, have been attacked in recent years owing to immense changes in the doctrines and practices of the hierarchy of the Episcopal Church. Orthodoxy is questioned or even scorned: (now disgraced) former Bishop Charles Bennison of Philadelphia dismissed Scripture with the words, “we wrote the Bible, we can re-write it.” Morality now includes sexual activity outside of marriage even among priests and bishops. (Bishop Bennison was removed when it transpired that he had been aware that his brother, also a priest, was sexually abusing a minor, but had done nothing.)
The attempt to impose such changes has been resisted globally, with the result that the Anglican Communion today is split in many directions….
It sounds like a lovely church that I would make efforts to attend were I ever in the area.
The premise of the article, however, seems strangely inaccurate. It references “attacks” or threats to this church (or this type of church) and cites former Bishop Bennison as an example. The evidence seems to be that Bennison was known to say ridiculous provocative things and that Bennison’s brother was a sex offender. The further point of attack was that the present hymnal does not contain a hymn that has special meaning for this parish. At one point it states that the Diocese is “coming to get” Good Shepherd. To an outsider, that all seems like trying to rub wet sticks together to make a fire.
Has the diocese told Good Shepherd to cease worshipping as they prefer? Has the Diocese told Good Shepherd that their beliefs are unacceptable to the current Bishop? What is the story behind the threatening environment that the story is built around. My guess is that Good shepherd can just keep on doing what it’s doing – and it appears to do it very well. I would have found it a great read just to know that there is a traditional Episcopal church with great music within a couple hundred miles of where I live.
NoVA Scout,
One point to bear in mind is that at the time of his election (it seems so far away now), Bishop Bennison promised Good Shepherd (and several other conservative parishes) that he would continue the DEPO arrangements of his predecessor. Once in office, he reneged on that promise. Bishop Moyer may be a naturally combative priest (whether or not one considers that a laudable quality), but the seeds of the conflict with Good Shepherd began with a demonstration of a lack of episcopal good faith; after that, the ante kept constantly being raised.
[url=http://catholicandreformed.blogspot.com]Catholic and Reformed[/url]
NOVA Scout. Do you seriously not know the story of Good Shepherd Rosemont and the past, oh, say decade or more?
Sounds like a pre-vatican II Catholic church, not an Episcopal or Anglican Church. Too bad they did not join ACNA, but I think ACNA is too liberal for them.
NOVA Scout, steer yourself here
[blockquote]”Earlier this year, the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania filed an action in the Montgomery County Orphan’s Court to claim Good Shepherd’s real estate. The diocese asserts that the property “is held in trust for the Episcopal Church and the Diocese,†and accuses Bishop Moyer and the Good Shepherd Vestry of acting outside the discipline of the church. The case against Good Shepherd is unprecedented, since in other property disputes with the Episcopal Church around the country, the parish in question has left the church, but continued to hold the property. Good Shepherd has never left the Episcopal Church, the foundation for the diocese’s argument in the property case” [/blockquote]
I’ve been acquainted with Good Shepherd for many years and agree in many ways it’s a wonderful place. Yes, in many ways like pre-Vatican II but more like an old Prayer Booky biretta-belt parish, an anomaly on Philadelphia’s Main Line and in the historically low-church Diocese of Pennsylvania. I once slightly knew Bishop Moyer and was at his consecration there. That said, the irony and weakness of its position is bound up with its being Episcopal. (Bear with me, elves.) Big-E Episcopal polity is semi-congregational which ironically is why – not [url=http://sergesblog.blogspot.com/2003/05/from-conservative-blog-for-peace.html]Catholic[/url] authority – Anglo-Catholic parishes like it still exist in Episcopal dioceses, which are more often than not hostile. (With the departure of its last three Catholic dioceses the Anglo-Catholic movement is over in the Episcopal Church.) And that brings one to the other half of the problem: it is an episcopal church so the bishop, the diocese, ultimately calls the shots. Despite the bubble they have had thanks to that semi-congregational polity, ultimately Good Shepherd will have to either go along with the religion of the diocese or vacate the buildings and start over somewhere else.
As far as congregational polity allowing preferred theology and worship in a parish, once Catholicism becomes a menu choice and not [i]the[/i] faith it’s not Catholicism but high Protestantism.
I am always amazed when Episcopalians/Anglicans identify “catholicity” with 1) simple conformity to one’s local(!) bishop; 2) property ownership.
This is certainly not a definition of catholicity that would have been recognized by Athanasius or Cyril of Alexandria. (Hint! “Catholic” comes from the adjective “katholikos,” meaning “universal.” It certainly is not identified with allegiance to a local bishop, but to the faith of the historical universal church. A bishop (like Bennison) who claims that “we wrote the Bible so we can rewrite it,” is, by definition, not Catholic.)
7: True but here’s the deal: you (rhetorical you) can’t thumb your nose at the liberal Protestant denomination you actually belong to while at the same time living rent-free in one of its houses and remaining on its dental plan.
Wm Witt [#7] writes of “the historical universal church ….”
Objection, your honor; assumes facts not in evidence.
Actually, I withdraw my objection [#9], because there’s no point in arguing the question yet again.
You are quite correct, DC. There is no point in arguing a question well established. You might start with the four points of Catholic identity established in the second century during the Gnostic crisis: canon, rule of faith, apostolic succession, worship in Word and Sacrament.
That TEc (and liberal Protestants) rejects the authority of Scripture, does not believe the articles of the Creed, believes that episcopacy is about maintaining legal rights to property, and believes worship is about some kind of generic experience common to everyone from Buddhists to Baptists, and promoting a secular “inclusivist” political agenda, does not mean that the marks of Catholic identity do not exist. It means rather that TEc is not (by any stretch of the imagination) any longer a Catholic Church.
But why restrict the adjective to Catholic? How about even Christian?
[Slightly edited by Elf]
By the way, young fogey#8,
What makes you think Good Shepherd is living “rent free”? If they are like most Episcopal Churches, the Diocese depends on their financial contributions rather than the other way around. Are they a mission?
Why should a church that claims to be Catholic provide financial support to an apostate organization?
12: Thanks for the clarification.
Still AFAIK the case is a slam-dunk for the diocese.
Good Shepherd, Rosemont has been “in TEC, but not of TEC” for a long time. There are plenty of peculiar anomalies here, especially with their pastor, +David Moyer, having left TEC years ago but still remaining the rector of a parish technically still within TEC.
I knew +Moyer when he was rector of St. John’s, Ogdensburg, NY (in the Diocese of Albany). He is a fine preacher, and an admirable and very capable pastor. But he doesn’t strike me as the church planter type. If Good Shepherd is forced to move, which would be unjust but is a very real possibility, I think such a traditionalist congregation would have a terribly hard time adjusting. Much, much more so than say Fr. Don Armstrong’s big, thriving parish in Colorado Springs, which seems to be handling that huge challenge quite well.
David Handy+
Two things:
1. In Pennsylvania, any assertion of “catholicity” to a civil court will be immediately confused with Roman Catholicism. The judges in the state have a really hard time keeping their own religious biases out of the decision making about other religions.
2, For Good Shepherd to succeed, they have to emphasize that despite the apparent eccentricities, they have never done anything that would appear to be an affirmative step of leaving the Episcopal Church. Unlike all the other breakway parishes and dioceses, the Good Shepherd has not taken any affirmative step or created any paper trail that asserts it is not part of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania.
The focus must stay on nonprofit corporation law and on property law.