An Episcopal church in Northeast Portland has many fewer members since about 100 people left to form a new Anglican parish late last month. The rector and the majority of his congregation at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church voted on March 21 to leave and rent space nearby as the newly formed St. Matthew’s Anglican Church. They began holding Sunday services there on April 25.
The split at St. Matthew’s follows a long line of divisions in the Episcopal church over the past few years. Many point to the election of the faith’s first openly gay bishop in 2003 as the beginning of the conflict within the church, but others say that event was just one of many points of contention among progressive and conservative Episcopalians.
Check it out and listen to the whole program (a little under 43 minutes).
An interesting program from Oregon Public Radio. Rev. David Humphrey of St. Matthew’s Anglican versus TEC Bp. Michael Hanley.
I thought that +David did a creditable job in explaining to the listening public what the process was like in the parish decision to leave the Episcopal Church. I would have liked to hear from +David a specific example from a TEC leader on the denial of the uniqueness of Jesus – like KJS and many ways to God.
+David articulated the key issues well – uniqueness of Jesus and the authority of the Bible. I felt that he was pastoral about God’s loving us and not leaving us where He finds us.
Should his response to the lesbian caller’s question have spoken of the need for repentance for sin? Or was his statement of “can’t affirm, condone or celebrate†a better pastoral response? I’d be interested in other observations about this .
TEC Bp. Hanley’s “welcoming to all†and different faithful interpretations of Scripture were normal revisionist statements.
So, once again the efforts of the liberals to pretend that nothing is happening have failed. This is an excellent discussion of some of the major differences between orthodox and liberal Anglicans. Hopefully it will cause many in their local community to think seriously about the issues.