The original article on which the article posted yesterday was based is here. (Hat tip: BM)
I will post comments on that article here so as to prevent confusion between the two threads. I will also consider posting additional comments on this fuller article submitted first by email to Kendall’s E-mail: KSHarmon[at]mindspring[dot]com.
From PC:
The Diocese of Sydney operates on principle not prejudice and articulates a theological case for all positions it takes.
Gene Robinson using the word ‘bigot’ to describe the Diocese disempowers gracious conversation between Anglicans.
We will never get beyond present divisions in the Communion while leaders of opinion within it feel free to use the word ‘bigot’ to describe fellow members of the Communion.
There should have been a fourth moratoria stated at Lambeth: no more use of ‘bigot’!!
From UP:
He says,
“I tell people that if you want to see what the church is going to be like when we finish obsessing about sex, come to New Hampshire.”
After looking up the ASA for NH 2002-2006 we see a drop in ASA from 5174 to 4533 or 14%. So why exactly does he want people to come to NH?
From MDB:
I find it ironic that Gene Robinson would use the phraseology that he supposedly used. Of course God didn’t get it wrong. Man continuously, as either individuals or as the “church†gets it wrong. That is what Gene Robinson is doing, getting it wrong. The Bible, authoritative and the word of God as written states without doubt what homosexuality is without ever using the word homosexual. Mr. Robinson is getting it wrong in his interpretation. As in law, use the plain language interpretation and you probably will not be wrong. Two thousand years of church teachings are not wrong because he shows up on the scene… I can not in good conscience recognize him as a Bishop in God’s Church.
From KIT:
[i]we see a drop in ASA from 5174 to 4533 or 14% [/i]
New Hampshire’s ASA in 2001 was 5279; in 2006, it was 4553, which is
a loss of 726. From 2002-2003, there is a drop of 316, about 40% of
the total. That same year, active membership drops 1000+, which is
about half the membership loss from 2000-2005. This suggests the
exit of a large parish, and didn’t that happen right after VGR was
elected? Looking at individual parishes, it’s clear that some
roster-cleaning occurred, since ASA was not affected. With respect
to membership, a number of parishes grew in membership, without
corresponding increases in ASA. What that means, I can’t say. Some
parishes grew in attendence, though most declined, but not dramatically.
All of this suggests a growth/decline pattern much like other
declining dioceses in TEC. If you eliminate the big numbers from
2002-2003, you get an average rate of decline of about 2% per year,
which is more or less consistent with the decline of TEC
overall. Data from the 90s shows this to be a continuation of
long-term, system decline. In plain words, Gene Robinson is not killing the diocese of New Hampshire, though he’s certainly not helping it.