Kneeling during an ancient laying-on-of-hands ritual, the Rev. Susan Slaughter on Sunday became the first woman ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth.
Among a sea of friends, relatives and colleagues gathered at St. Luke’s in the Meadow Episcopal Church, Slaughter was ordained by the Right Rev. Edwin F. “Ted” Gulick Jr., bishop of the Diocese of Kentucky, who has also been serving as provisional bishop of the Fort Worth Diocese.
A letter of congratulations from Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori read by Gulick said: “I give thanks to God for this sign of the resurrection of the Diocese of Fort Worth. Susan, may his light shine through you. May the widow’s gifts spread throughout your diocese.”
The report is inaccurate. No such thing took place in the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth.
Can anyone source – or explain – “May the widow’s gifts spread throughout your diocese.” Thanks, Bill
And in other news I will henceforth be paying my bills with Confederate $3 bills.
#2 – possibly a reference to the widow’s mite? (Mark 12:38-44)
Yes, may all 6 members of TEC in that Diocese put 2 cents or less in the collection basket!
“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, [b]if you love one another[/b].”
Assuming that WO is proper, would you think that Ms. Slaughter’s ordination is valid, considering that her “diocese” has not been properly formed or approved?
Yes, indeedy, the faux question is pre-eminent! Can a faux diocese with a faux bishop perform an “ordination”? That leaves aside the question -still quite open as it is a matter of reception, except of course for where it is enforced by fiat- of whether or not women can be ordained. There is quite a concensus among the Orthodox and the Romans and large blocks of the Anglican Communion that they cannot be.
That brings up the whole question of faux claims to be an ecclesia that is continuous with the Church Catholic. My, what a can of worms has been opened: constitution to canons to catholicity. All in the name of “equality” and, one must observe, self-referential braggadocio(-a).
Is the ordination (laying aside the WO question) valid? Yes it is, and here’s why: The Right Rev. Edwin F. “Ted” Gulick Jr. is actually a real bishop, who also happens to minister in the Diocese of Kentucky.
The more concise question is, what license does this newly ordained person hold, if there is no diocese? Presumably, she was not given a license to minister in the Diocese of Kentucky. That leaves only +Gulick’s standing as a bishop, acting here as an independent episcopus vagante to go on.
The newly ordained person has a license only under the bishop, not under any church organization. When the bishop ends his vagante sojourn in Fort Worth, her license will also end–or else follow the bishop.
If and when the purported diocese is ever formed properly and admitted to TEC, the proper procedures will have to be followed to transfer the ordinand’s license from vagante status to diocesan status.
Interesting, Br_er Rabbit. I read hastily and saw vigilante before re-reading vagante. But this does yield some thought value in and of itself, is ordination by a vigilantee diocese properly called a vigilantee vagante ordination?
Yes, doc, I will gladly add your adjective to the vegetative vagaries of this vagabond diocese.
So, then, we have a faux/vigilante/vagabond “diocese” vegetatively vagarizing vagante ordinations. Vewwy, vewwy irregular!