A difference in beliefs within the Episcopal Church is distressing, but is not necessarily reason to leave. Unfortunately, many of those who hold “progressive” beliefs have gone further than disagreeing with Christian tenets. They have hijacked the denomination into which I was confirmed more than 30 years ago.
These leaders have become intolerant of the traditional Christians in their midst and have sought systemically to suppress those whose beliefs remain Christian by refusing to ordain or appoint them as priests or bishops. Faced with the inability to worship and witness as our faith dictates, we have sought to leave and maintain our membership in the worldwide church from which the Episcopal Church has alienated itself.
In response, we have been harassed by those who call themselves tolerant, as the deposition of Bishop Duncan illustrates. Remember, he was deposed in anticipation of an act not yet taken and with the intent to intimidate those in the Pittsburgh Diocese who soon will be voting on whether to leave the Episcopal Church. We have even been asked to heed his deposition as a warning.
As a good (and agnostic) friend of mine exclaimed, “If they don’t believe in what the church teaches, let them leave and create their own group.” Since they haven’t, and since they have sought to silence us, we must leave.
Whether DioPitt votes to leave TEC or not, 815 ought to ponder this: each and every day an average of 151 people leave TEC and are not replaced. Even if DioPitt stays, the ~20,000 membership they represent will still be gone in 4-1/2 months, albeit from diverse parishes.
Awesome focus and clarity. Should be nailed to the door of the cathedral in Omaha, NE, where Bp. “Oh come now TEC is perfectly orthodox” Epting has been, uh, redeployed.
The current technique to answer this devastating indictment is to say, “We have the BCP, we read the Scriptures in worship, we say the Creed”…”We ARE orthodox”.
Yet, St. Paul warned about having the “form” of godliness without the Substance…and the Substance is Christ. It is on the Person and scandalous particularity of Jesus as Messiah that the TEC’s ship has broken its bow.
“I seek to leave the Episcopal Church because it no longer teaches or represents that which I believe as a member of the worldwide Anglican Church….”
No. 2: Yes, there’s focus and clarity here, especially in this quotation. And, yes (no. 1), it’s why more and more people are leaving, sadly finding more reasons to go than to stay. There are many good ecclesiastical options available in the United States. This past June, I became one of the reluctant departers.
The money quote is from his agnostic friend. Indeed, why haven’t the progressives had the integrity to leave and join MCC, UCC, or Unitarians, rather than hijack a church whose beliefs they disdain?
[blockquote] Indeed, why haven’t the progressives had the integrity to leave and join MCC, UCC, or Unitarians, rather than hijack a church whose beliefs they disdain?[/blockquote]
The point is that they care very little for the church. Gene Robinson was told by the primate by of Sudan, “If you love the church then resign.” But Gene Robinson is a homosexualist firstly, secondly,… Christianity might be 27th on the list. They seek ecclesiastical blessing so that they can obtain secular blessing.
But it may blow up in their faces. The homosexualists are making such a big mess of our sad denomination that people will look with horror on what they did to it just to advance their political cause.
[blockquote] Bill Matz wrote:
The money quote is from his agnostic friend. Indeed, why haven’t the progressives had the integrity to leave and join MCC, UCC, or Unitarians, rather than hijack a church whose beliefs they disdain? [/blockquote]
Why? In a word, money. TEO has a ton of it.
I too find this a clear explanation of Pittsburgh’s reasons to leave TEC. I am saving this article. It better explains to those outside the church what I have been attempting to explain.
Well said Wendy.
On the ‘why haven’t they left and formed there own church’ question: yes, money and resources are one explanation; the slow, steady chipping away at the faith by Enlightenment thinking would be another. A third would be that at least some of the more radical revisionist types see the Communion not only as giving them some global and historical legitimacy, but they also see it as a mission field in which to propagate their own version of the gospel. At the end of the HoBs meeting in New Orleans in January one Bishop said “we have a long way to go to win over the rest of the Communion.” I doubt that there is a well thought out liberal conspiracy, but I do think that lacking any true gospel mission, many see it as their “God”-given task to spread what they see as a message of justice around the globe.
There are several statements that need challenging in this well written article:
1. Who has been elected and not installed as Bishop in TEC?
2. Who has not been ordained a priest in TEC because of her orthodox beliefs?
3. Who of all the Progressive Episcopalians in Pittsburgh does not believe in the diety of our Lord, or the Trinity?
4. The Bishop was nor deposed for what he was about to do, but “”The House concluded, however, that his actions over recent months and years constitute ‘abandonment of the communion of this church’ and that he should be deposed” (ENS, Pat McCaughan, September 18, 2008).
5. You say “Faced with the inability to worship and witness as our faith dictates,we have sought to leave ” Is this true for your parish in Pittsburgh? I doubt it:
It seems that there are too many questionable statements in this article and the realigners do not seem to care about them!
Truth matters so the orthodox defenders should be a little more “ortho”
Certainly another aspect why more bishops and clergy have not left TEC is for a very practical consideration – because of their pensions and retirement benefits. It takes many years to vest, but once it does it provides (comparatively speaking) quite a comfortable retirement. If you leave, you forfeit many of these benefits. For many clergy who are in their 50s and 60s, the idea of leaving the church and leaving a goodly portion of their retirement benefits behind is a serious obstacle to being able to leave. Now that the financial markets are being threatened and there is even more financial instability, I would bet there would be more clergy feeling like they simply cannot leave because they lack alternate streams of retirement income. I wonder if there will be many even more “orthodox” clergy of that age group that will simply try to stick it out long enough to retire.
#11, that line of reasoning shows nothing but a total lack of faith in the TRUE God. He will provide for those who have faith in Him.
Eugene,
I know of several persons who were not sent to seminary because the bishop or priest thought they were too conservative in theology.
You want to meet one in person?
Hello, here I am.
His Peace
Jim E. <><
Eugene, get real. I am sure #9 can answer several of your questions. #13 just did. I will comment on your bullet 3, 4 and 5. The majority of the Communion believes you are wrong. To understand what it means to be Christian, one needs to believe in the deity, not the diety(sp). How is the Lord revealed to us? ‘ Through the Scriptures and not through progressive revision. Bishop Duncan stands as a rallying point for the orthodox Anglicans in the US. That is why he is so dangerous to TEC. A fraction of the HOB voted to depose him for this. If the progressives were charitable, they would just allow an orderly parting. The threat to them is that everyone isn’t following their new gospel. It undermines their legitimacy. How do they fight that? They fight it with religious intolerance. If you can’t get people to agree with you, then you force them to do so. Otherwise you destroy them.
How many mass movements in the Twentieth Century used “justice†as an excuse to create despotic, cruel regimes that led to the sacrifice of millions of lives? Just because people don’t agree with you theologically, it doesn’t mean it is a justice issue. It is a cultural, political and religious faith issue. ‘ Something that the writers of our constitution wanted to leave free from the control of the state.
Wendy’s parish sits between two prominent national universities. It draws young people plus many others from diverse traditions and denominations. It teaches the universal Gospel and the Covenant between the faithful and God. This requires obedience to God’s will. TEC clearly places their own will first. Suggesting that TEC would have a hands off policy toward Wendy’s parish is just plain ridiculous. They will try to extinguish that light anyway they can.
#11, simply a reminder that when clergy leave the Episcopal Church, they do not “lose” their pension benefits. They do, however, lose those benefits that are available to those currently active in the fund (disability coverage, life insurance, etc.) and cease to earn further benefits. I sincerely hope that realigning congregational leaders will sit down with clergy and make every effort to recalibrate parish budgets so that, when CPG assessments cease being paid, appropriate amounts continue to be allocated via a 403B and additional purchase of disability and life benefits to protect the clergy and clergy families.
Bruce Robison
Re #4. David, Since you are the co-author of The Episcopalians (2004), do you anticipate adding a chapter about “The Former Episcopalians” or else renaming the book The American Anglicans?
Second question: Have you written a public letter regarding your reasons for leaving the Episcopal Church and, if so, where can it be found on the web?
Thank you.
An appreciative reader of your church history work
# 16, Some of us say “recovering” Anglicans.
No. 16:
“Re #4. David, Since you are the co-author of The Episcopalians (2004), do you anticipate adding a chapter about ‘The Former Episcopalians’ or else renaming the book ‘The American Anglicans’?”
No; I no longer do Episcopal (or former Episcopal) church history.
“Second question: Have you written a public letter regarding your reasons for leaving the Episcopal Church and, if so, where can it be found on the web?”
No, I haven’t, and I don’t plan to.
“Thank you. An appreciative reader of your church history work.”
Thanks very much, and best wishes.
David
Really fantastic piece. Ya know, I am getting tired of even being called a “traditional Christian”. Once you are labeled as one of these you know your denomination is in trouble. The sad truth is that many in our Anglican West are no longer tolerant of Christians or their worship.
#15 BMR+
That is not necessarily true. Many dioceses have financial structures tied to ordination status. An example: In Pennsylvania there is ‘The Widows Corporation’ which was a fund started in the 1700’s for the widows and children of clergy. It has amassed so much money that it now provided benefits – notably death benefits – to the families of clergy. We are talking hundreds of thousands of dollars. This goes away if the clergy person is defrocked. Additionally, there are many ‘benefits’ provided by CPG and other groups that are available only to clergy currently active in TEC. These include free vacations, elective medical and dental care, and free legal services. KJS has ‘encouraged’ this sort of activity to hold clergy, particularly those with family or near retirement, in line.
#15 BMG+,
To be clear, you are correct in that a clergy person who leaves TEC will not lose retirement (provided they are vested), but overall, there can be huge financial consequences.
#20 — I know the administrator of the Diocese of Pittsburgh has been specifically urging realigning clergy to enroll *now* for Widows Corp. Life Ins. It is the case that if you cease to be a cleric canonically resident in an Episcopal diocese in the Commonwealth, you can no longer add to the amount of coverage you have with Widows Corp., but I’m 99.999% certain they can’t disenroll you from policies already in place.
I am not at all suggestion that there aren’t serious financial consequences involved here. As #21 & #22 note, there are very substantial benefits provided by CPF for active clergy, including most especially short and long-term disability and life insurance. And I would hope any parish that realigns would make an effort to replace these benefits as completely as possible. Moreover, no question but that even a well-funded 403 B is likely to be much less meaningful and predictable than the Defined Benefit Plan, with enhancements.
But I would say here in Pittsburgh that I don’t know a single realigning priest who isn’t making that personal sacrifice with clarity. And I don’t know a single non-realigning priest who is “not realigning” because of pension. But I do expect that all, on both sides, have taken a careful look at the whole situation. I am deeply impressed by the integrity on these matters on both sides–but am perhaps most deeply impressed by the willingness of my realigning colleagues, and their wives and children, to accept the personal costs that will most likely follow this set of decisions.
As a sidenote, realigning clergy and congregations are in any case encouraged to remain active in the Fund for as long as possible. “Realignment” doesn’t make you ineligible–only deposition can do that, and depositions are a good way down the road from here. As I understand it the Fund is still accepting assessments and granting credited service to clergy in the Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin, who as of this time have not been removed from their standing as clergy of the Episcopal Church. We have some guys in Pittsburgh who are within a year or two of vesting milestones, and they should stay in as long as possible.
Bruce Robison
#22 BMR,
I am in agreement with you on all counts, save one. I suspect that depositions will be ‘fast-tracked’ if so ordered by +KJS, et al.
One point of clarity, though. It is the ‘official’ policy of the Widows Corp to dis-enroll any clergy person who is so inhibited and deposed by his/her bishop. (Our diocese checked.) They will send back the nominal buy-in fund with no interest. While the clergy in Pittsburgh have not had action taken (yet) and are not in danger at this time, the other four Pennsylvania dioceses have become very difficult for traditional clergy. Additionally, I would not put it past 815 to depose all of the clergy in Pittsburgh who do not actively disavow realignment should realignment occur this Fall.
For those of us who are retired from ministry, this is a different situation. For me, it is like watching a family tragedy from afar and being able to do little.
Father K.A.: Don’t forget the one time “relocation” allowance, which is one heck of a gold watch: It is a lump sum payment, I think in the area of $20,000, disbursed to those who retire as ECUSA clergy in good standing