To compare the mentality of a brother bishop to school shooters (see here), or to call him and presumably those close to him “petty deciders or wolves who masquerade as sheep” is incredibly inappropriate for any Christian, not to mention bizarre. I truly have never before heard or read such a spiteful and hate-fueled speech on either side of our present unpleasantness. This type of hateful and over the top language is even worse coming from a leader who claims to speak for the “national Church” and all Episcopalians. Let me be clear: I am an Episcopal priest and the Presiding Bishop does not speak for me. I have no delusion that I share in any ownership of anything outside of my parish and my diocese. The idea that one person, even if one agrees with the present incumbent, can speak for all Episcopalians is sheer lunacy.
To be fair, this centralization of power and influence certainly did not start with the present Presiding Bishop, but we do well to consider the state in which we find ourselves. Power corrupts, and the Presiding Bishop rightly notes that when one figure assumes the power it often leads to abuse, tyranny and corruption. She apparently fails to see how this truth has been demonstrated in her term as Presiding Bishop. Fast tracking bishops to “renounce their orders” rather than letting the House of Bishops speak, inhibiting without the consent of the three most senior active bishops (which the new Title IV conveniently does not require), and setting up new dioceses (which TEC has every right to do) while violating the canons of TEC all point to an office that has overgrown its canonical bounds and is running unchecked.
Fr Faulkner’s comments about Jefferts Schori’s abuse of power are true enough, but I don’t see anyone doing anything about it…..including the Standing Committee and the House of Bishops. They never will.
I had a more positive response, Cynnydd13. The Diocese of Dallas, including its Standing Committee, has tried to differentiate itself as much as possible, while remaining within TEC. Not least, Dallas refuses to support the +KJS regime financially, and that is a brave act of defiance. +Stanton is close to retirement, or I wouldn’t be at all surprised if +KJS found some spurious grounds for delposing him, as she has other orthodox bishops who got in the way of her unholy agenda.
For now, vocal dissidents like Fr. Faulkner are safe within the isolated citadels of orthodoxy like the Diocese of Dallas (or Albany, Central FL, or Springfiled, etc.). But those pockets of resistance to “The New Thing” can’t survive long term, as the case of the Diocese of South Caroline shows all too plainly.
But in the meantime, I welcome such clear and forthright public statements by clergy who remain within TEC. Fr. Faulkner nails it when he points to the PB’s stunning lack of self-awareness and the incredible irony of her notorious remarks about +Lawrence in that scandalous sermon in SC. It’s like the situation in the classic fable by Hans Christian Anderssen, “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” When everyone seems to be pretending that the Emperor’s “new clothese” are the height of fashion and impressive, all it sometimes takes is for someone to break the silence and yell out that it’s all a ludicrous sham.
David Handy+