The Rev. David Thurlow, rector of St. Matthias Episcopal Church in Summerton, was a member of the standing committee that drafted the resolutions, along with Barr. Thurlow said that despite a certain consensus on the issue, the decision wasn’t easy for anyone.
“It’s sad that it’s come to this, that this is the situation that the church finds itself in, where members of the church are clearly going in a direction that is apart from the Scripture and tradition,” he said. “Our church voted for the resolutions because we are taking a stand for the catholic faith and order, which has been passed down to us through the centuries … These resolutions are the diocese’s way of differentiating itself from those in the church who are doing just that ”“ conforming matters of faith and doctrine to the pattern of the world, rather than the pattern of God’s word.”
[The Rev. John] Barr said he believes good things will come from the crisis.
“It’s been agonizing; it’s been painful,” he said. “But it’s also been a huge blessing, in that people are searching for Christian essentials ”” not the bric-a-brac. Not the side alleys, the ancillaries. People want to know when everything falls apart, what are the essentials of my Christian faith?”
Fascinating.
[blockquote]Dorsey Henderson, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina, has concerns about the ramifications of the decision — what it will mean for the Diocese of South Carolina and for the Episcopal church at large. The Upper South Carolina diocese takes in the Upstate and western Midlands.
“It seems to me that what is most important (when we disagree) is that we follow Anglicanism’s tradition of prayer and study and more prayer and dialogue and more prayer because the unity of the church is so essential to the church’s mission. That’s clear in Holy Scripture, and it seems to be clear in basic concepts as Anglicanism beliefs,” he said.
Barr disagreed.
“Unity is a result of dwelling in the truth of God,” he said. “Otherwise we might as well be in the United Nations chapel that has been scrubbed clean, singing ‘Kumbaya.’ God brings unity, but we don’t worship unity. We worship Jesus Christ. And Christ and unity have to go together.”
Henderson believes that while a tremendous amount of dialogue, prayer and study have taken place during the six years since Robinson took office, more is needed before a step such as that is taken by the South Carolina diocese.
“It took somewhere between three and five hundred years for the church to come to an understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity,” he said. “If we can take that long to come to an understanding of a doctrine that important, then certainly we can afford six years — or substantially longer — to come to a clear understanding of what God’s will is in this situation and what God is trying to teach us about human sexuality.”[/blockquote]
Of course . . . we did pray, study, and dialogue. And then 2003 and 2006 and 2009 GCs made their [i]decision[/i]. And now the Diocese of SC must needs respond to the [i]decision[/i] that the three GCs made.
The “prayer study and dialogue” is over — and has been over since 2003. All that’s left are the two sides making mutually opposing assertions at one another across the divide.
All that my bishop seems to be saying is that . . . despite [i]the decision [/i] of GC, the diocese of SC is not allowed to make their decision. They must “dialogue” more, despite the fact that over a six year period the General Convention has gotten to make their decisions.
Right on, Sarah. There is no honest dialogue in the EC it is a political strategy to advance a new religious ideology.
I have wondered if the bishops who are complicit in this matter do so knowingly or have embraced something beyond denial akin to self deception.
In any case, the time of dialogue is over. It has been for some time and this past GC makes that abundantly clear.