The first mistake the author makes in this story is in not defining his terms. What is a General Convention? What are its powers? This question currently is the subject of litigation before the Texas Supreme Court and lower courts in California and Illinois. Grounding the article by stating the powers exercised by this gathering are in dispute amongst Episcopalians would have been a better start.
However, the problem with the Episcopal Church is not cocktail swilling bishops or a power-mad gargoyles peering down at the church from a penthouse in Manhattan. Problems with alcohol and homosexuality, money and power are derivative issues that arise from the divide over the interpretation of Scripture and an understanding of the person of Jesus Christ. The fight may take the form over secondary issues such as morality of homosexual behavior or the role of women in the leadership of the church, but it is based upon a division over who Jesus Christ is and how Christians read, interpret and live out the teachings of the Bible.
While I am sympathetic to much that has been said, the article was a wasted opportunity to explain what really is going on. Reading “What Ails the Episcopalians” will not leave you any the wiser ”” and that is a shame. Just think what could have been done with this story, and was not.
I agree completely. When I first saw the article header in the WSJ, I thought “Eureka! we are finally going to expose the truth in mainline media”. What a disappointment. The article barely scratches the surface of “What ails the Episcopal Church”. That would take a whole issue of the WSJ and that would be for openers.
A missed opportunity, indeed. A poor job by the WSJ. Unfortunately, TEC leaders will just be able to dismiss this, without understanding that the deeper problems Conger cites are real and significant. This goes to show the high responsibility one takes on writing in a major publication.