…[Mariann] Budde, who was installed last month as the ninth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, faces a tough road. After a decade of schism within the church and a broad disillusionment with mainline Protestantism in general, membership in the Episcopal Church in America ”” the denomination of FDR and George Herbert Walker Bush, the throne of high WASP-dom ”” has fallen on hard times.
Recent polls put Episcopalians in America at fewer than 2 million, which means that there are numerically more Jews, more Muslims and more Mormons in this country than there are Episcopalians. Washington, D.C., one of the largest and most visible dioceses in the country, has not suffered the same radical attrition as elsewhere; still, membership has stagnated for the past 10 years at about 40,000 members in 88 congregations.
“We got so fascinated with ourselves that the world just sped by us,” says Budde. “We’re like a boutique. We’re the most inclusive church in the world that’s the tiniest church in Christendom. .”‰.”‰. I’m not interested in being the leader of a boutique church.”
Oh, those vestments AGAIN!
So, we put “I’m in favor of gay marriage, always have been. At this point it’s a no-brainer†up against “Washington, D.C., one of the largest and most visible dioceses in the country, has not suffered the same radical attrition as elsewhere”
Then, there’s the amazing, “I’m not interested in being the leader of a boutique church.” One wonders what is the source of her call to ordained ministry in the first place.
Next we have, “Inspired by the books and seminars of Rick Warren…” but we don’t see that she’s inspired by orthodox theology, and her ordination-consecration indicates that she’s not inspired by orthodox liturgy.
But we see, “She will reach out to the folks who aren’t finding satisfaction in churches elsewhere…” – is that because she’ll let people design their own religion? What is her ecclesiology, anyway? What is the Church to her? Why do people go to church? For satisfaction??? (Perhaps she thinks people will be satisfied to see a female bishop gyrating at the altar during a Salsa Sanctus.)
Then, regarding whether the Episcopal Church “matters” – “The complete answer,†she said, “is I don’t know if it matters. Does God really care? But then I realize that I really care. And I think of all the people in my world who also really care. I wouldn’t be a Christian without them.â€
“I may fail. We may fail at this.â€
Oh, my! Someone really needed a good spiritual director a few years ago. I wonder if there’s still time.
RE: “I’m not interested in being the leader of a boutique church.”
What a pity, then.
[blockquote] It’s all well and good to want to serve God and help the poor, “but if we don’t get bigger, then everything we want to do is compromised by the fact that we’re so weak.â€[/blockquote]
So. . .the laity is there to fulfill the ambition of the bishop.
[blockquote] On the advice of a public relations consultant, Budde has also decided to concentrate her visible activism on just two issues, so as not to be pulled in too many directions.[/blockquote]
Nice to know that there’s a higher authority than a bishop.
“everything we do is compromised by the fact we’re so weak.”
I always was taught that our weakness was glorified by Him to strength in our weakness! Her consultant should have read up on the reality that is Christianity so she could have been considered read up on Christianity.
Her comments are an interesting mixture of perception and delusion. Perhaps she should make Christianity the first focus of her activism and immigration reform the second. It might be a better way to reach the people she correctly identifies as the best targets for evangelism by Episcopalians.
Bless her heart. I know she means well. But two x chromosomes and moderate success in parish ministry will not overcome the tide of history.
“We’re the most inclusive church in the world that’s the tiniest church in Christendom. . .”
Whoever heard of an “inclusive ‘Christian’ church” that doesn’t want to include traditional Christians?
NAME CHANGE–“Our Lady of the Non Sequitur”… :-/
“I’m in favor of gay marriage…it’s a no-brainer.†Hard to disagree with that.
Touche, Daniel!