There are those who simply have to leave The Episcopal Church for conscience sake. I understand that. I don’t agree, but I don’t believe we should punish them. We shouldn’t sue them. We shouldn’t depose the clergy. Our brokenness is a tragedy. The litigation that is going on in so many places is a travesty.
And although some seem to be trying to do so, I don’t think you can hold a Church together by taking everybody you disagree with to court.
One year ago I stood before you and said, “This is my promise: if there are those who decide to leave I will be more fair-minded and generous to them than any policy that could possibly be established. And I don’t have to ask you to believe that; I’ve proven it.”
Well, Dear Friends, we have proven it, again (and again, several times). As I promised we would, we have said to those leaving, “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.”
You all know that personally I am no happier than those who are departing about some of the recent decisions of The Episcopal Church. But I am committed to staying the course for as long as it is possible to remain both an Episcopalian and an Anglican. And the Archbishop of Canterbury has given me, personally, and all the world, assurances…
[blockquote]And a powerful image came to mind. On the last day of General Convention 2006, our newly elected Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, said that The Episcopal Church is of two minds, especially on the sexuality issues. She compared us to conjoined twins, saying “this body of Christ is not wholly one and not wholly two.†And she reminded us how difficult and dangerous it is to separate conjoined twins.[/blockquote]
That is a very good analogy. The one thing that is missing in the analogy is that there is only ONE heart between the two twins. They will both die if left together – one will die if separated.
Well, Modern Liberals just love absurd situations upon which all society is to pass moral judgement. Here is their opportunity.
No matter where we find ourselves, I don’t think any of us truly leave TEC and its brokenness, as so many have friends who remain in TEC for one reason or another. For that reason perhaps it will be the lifelong calling of us to minister to those in TEC even though we no longer worship together. Cheers to the bishop for his kindliness.
The bishop said,
“But I am committed to staying the course for as long as it is possible to remain both an Episcopalian and an Anglican.”
But, as it has recently been discussed/presented, remaining Episcopalian and remaining Anglican are two different things.
Remaining Episcopalian means that one remains a member of a diocese being led by a bishop in the episcopal tradition (small ‘e’) that is also part of a non-church confederation that deliberateds in its General Convention every three years. Schori ‘presides,’ she doesn’t lead as a ‘primate’ in the normal episcopal sense. There seems to be equivocation on this point within ECUSA depending on the issue at hand.
On the other hand, being an Anglican, in the most general sense, means that one is first under the leadership of a diocesan and then under the leadership of a primate and then under the symbolic/token leadership of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
It seems that in the ECUSAn episcopal hierarchy that there is a disconnect between the the diocesan bishop and the ABC.
That is, the the General Convention is an expression of ECUSAn collegiality where the laity and the clergy speak and deliberate ‘en masse,’ but cannot be held accountable under the leadership of a single bishop who gives orders and singularly accepts responsibility. Hence, epicopacy, in ECUSA, seems to end at the General Convention level.
This means for example, that Schori can go to Dar Es Salaam and meet with ‘real’ primates and ‘agree’ to things, but that when she comes home, her words of agreement have no ‘command authority’ within ECUSA.
God bless this servant-bishop and all those ever under his care.
Peace,
…There are those who simply have to leave The Episcopal Church for conscience sake. I understand that. I don’t agree, but I don’t believe we should punish them. We shouldn’t sue them. We shouldn’t depose the clergy. Our brokenness is a tragedy. The litigation that is going on in so many places is a travesty…
Well spoken, and Amen.
BCP28, now just try to tell that to Katharine Jefferts Schori and Company!
Something about the ABC’s statement of Canterbury Communion has been bothering me. I’ve thought about it long and hard because it seems too simple.
There are several parts to the Windsor Report, and one of them mentions the crossing of boundaries, and decries them. So, what’s seems simple is not. ie:
If a Diocese accepts “oversight” by an oversees Primtate, it probably follows that the “Overseas Primate” is not being “Windsor Compliant”, ergo the Diocese who asks for, or accepts the “oversight” is not “Windsor compliant” either.
In other words, not only must a Diocese be “Windsor Compliant”, it must stay put in its province.
And therein lies the “hook”. and probably +Howe figured it out too.
So, in my mind “Windsor compliant” means every jot and tittle of the Windsor Report, nevermind DAR.
WOW
Gloria
Sorry, folks. Where is the voice of this great conservative leader in the HOB? Where is the support for those in other dioceses who need help? Something is rotten in Denmark. I am not impressed at all, not one bit. Neither do I agree with his strategy or his way of dealing with his people.
And now the rest of the story…
1. Bishop Howe fails to tell that when Grace Ocala split, Fr. Curran took 90% of the congregation with him. Grace is one of the largest Episcopal Churches in Central Florida. They took nothing with them. Through the grace of God, one of the local Evangelical Churches offered them a building to worship in.
2. St. Anne’s Crystal River is another story. Fr. Holsapple spent 6 months convincing the vestry and the congregation that they should leave the Episcopal Church. He gave countless spiritual and biblical reasons for doing so. On October 19th, he gave an awe inspiring sermon where he even suggested that it was time to change the name out of the sign in front of the church. It certainly appeared that he had a majority of the congregation backing him, including a 100% approval of the vestry. They even formed another corporation under the name of “Citrus Anglican Church” , and encouraged members to tithe to the new corporation. He left for a 2 week vacation to Canada and upon his return said that he changed his mind. The primary reason he gave was “that he was a good Anglican and a good Anglican has to be obedient to his bishop” The congregation was not allowed to comment and that was that. Frankly the congregation was dumbfounded. They stayed with him because they had no other place to go. His comment about loosing his job was used in his decision to leave and his decision to stay….. He then asked that his sermon of October 19th be removed from the web site. ….Whoops, I changed my mind and didn’t mean all those things I have been telling you for the last 6 months..
Additions to and slight correction of #9 above regarding Grace Ocala:
Fr. Curran and the 90% have not yet left. Tomorrow is our last Sunday and after that service, Fr. Curran, the rest of the clergy and ministerial staff (with the exception of the associate rector), most of the administrative staff and the entire vestry will resign. Ironically, we will also be celebrating Fr. Curran’s 10th anniversary at Grace with a huge BBQ/Dinner-in-the-grounds shortly after the last morning service. (All are welcome, of course.)
Also, we who are leaving Grace to become Christ the King Anglican have not just been given “a building” to worship in. We have an entire all-but-abandoned worship space and classroom space in one building and TWO OTHER BUILDINGS to use for classrooms, children’s ministry, youth ministry, offices, prayer room, etc., etc. This more-than-generous “Evangelical Church” had outgrown their old space and built a much larger space on the same campus for themselves, leaving the old space just sitting there….just for us!
Interestingly, when our new host church’s pastor announced from the pulpit (last Sunday, I believe) why we were leaving Grace and that they were going to host us in their old space, the entire host church congregation came to their feet with a STANDING OVATION! (As with every other time I have related this story to others, I am weeping as I type this!) God is so good! When we trust Him and step out in faith, He provides – always!
Diocese lost about 1 percent of its members from 1996 through 2002 but about another 8 percent from 2002 through 2006. Plate & Pledge grew a healthy 35 percent from 1996 through 2002 and then increased a rather meager 13 percent from 2002 through 2006. The full impact of parish settlements and membership losses will not appear until 2008 data. The results mostly reflect TEC priorities: retain the property and lose the (pesky) people. Statmann