Posted on 07/15/2005 8:04:10 AM PDT by Dane
The Episcopal Church Self-Destructs over Homosexuality
Episcopalians Defend the Consecration of a "Gay" Bishop
By Allan Dobras
The Episcopal Church has been flirting with a disastrous schism for the last thirty-five years, and now a formal breakup seems inevitable following an unapologetic June 17–22, 2005, appearance before the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) in Nottingham, England. The purpose of the meeting was to hear the church's defense of its consecration of "gay" Bishop V. Gene Robinson.
Over the years, the denomination continued to hang together as it blundered through several divisive issues while causing its rolls to plummet by about 1.3 million congregants, or nearly 40 percent of its membership. Remarkably, the church had managed to survive clergymen like Bishop John S. Spong, who institutionalized heretical teachings in the denomination, the failed heresy trial of Rt. Reverend Walter Righter, who opened the church to the ordination of homosexual deacons, and the church's persistent embroilment in leftist politics.
Now, ramifications from the consecration of Bishop V. Gene Robinson are sending shockwaves through the Anglican community, and the denomination is on the brink of imploding. The June 2003 election of Rt. Reverend Robinson to the office of bishop was the final straw for the traditionalist-minded American Anglican Council (AAC) and a number of conservative prelates-primarily from Africa-who put pressure on the Worldwide Anglican Communion to respond to what they thought to be contrary to church doctrine.
As a result, in October of 2003, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, established a commission to look at life in the Anglican Communion in the light of recent events-at the time, the imminent consecration of the Reverend Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire and the decision to authorize a service for use in connection with same-sex unions in the Diocese of New Westminster, Canada.
The commission was tasked by the archbishop to "offer advice on finding a way through the situation which currently threatens to divide the Communion." After studying the matter for several months, the commission issued its final report (The Windsor Report) on October 28, 2004, which called upon the Episcopal Church (USA) to:
* Express its regret that the proper constraints of the bonds of affection were breached in the events surrounding the election and consecration of a bishop for the See of New Hampshire. * Pending such expression of regret, those who took part as consecrators of Gene Robinson should be invited to consider in all conscience whether they should withdraw from representative functions in the Anglican Communion. * Effect a moratorium on the election and consent to the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate who is living in a same-gender union until some new consensus in the Anglican Communion emerges.
The commission also called for a moratorium of Rites of Blessing of same-sex unions and recommended that bishops who have authorized such rites in the United States and Canada be invited to express regret that the proper constraints of the bonds of affection were breached by such authorization.
Conservative primates of the Anglican Communion gathered in February 2005 at Newry, in Northern Ireland, at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury to consider the recommendations of the Windsor Report. The primates endorsed the report and encouraged the Anglican Consultative Council to "organize a hearing at its meeting in Nottingham, England, in June 2005 at which representatives of the Episcopal Church (USA) and the Anglican Church of Canada, invited for that specific purpose, may have an opportunity to set out the thinking behind the recent actions of their Provinces."
The Episcopal Church (USA) Responds
During the week of June 20, 2005, representatives of the Episcopal Church (USA) met with the Anglican Consultative Council in Nottingham, England, and presented their response to the Windsor Report in a 135-page document titled "To Set Our Hope On Christ," which was long on superlatives, but devoid of either regret or repentance. In substance, the response was little more than a repeat of the unsubstantiated junk science claims that homosexuality is inborn and unchangeable and the discredited revisionist theology that denies the validity of the biblical record concerning homosexuality.
In a hopelessly convoluted reply to the specific recommendations of the Windsor Report, the American church dismissed the call to express "regret" for their actions or to respect a "moratorium" on the consecration of any additional clergy involved in a same-sex relationship:
* At the present time part of the Church believes that it recognizes members of same-sex affection who are living Christ-like lives of generous self-donation, costly witness, and courageous acts of discipleship in conformity with the pattern Christ establishes for us. And this part of the Church is calling the rest to "come and see" if this isn't in fact the work of the Holy Spirit. . . . "We believe that God takes our differences, which the world would wickedly harden into divisions, and embraces them by the power of Christ and the Spirit within those blessed differences-in-relation of the Divine Persons . . . " * "The experience of the Church as it is lived in different places has something to contribute to the discernment of the mind of Christ for the Church. No one culture, no one period of history has a monopoly of insight into the truth of the Gospel. . . . We wish most deeply to express our loving concern for the good of the whole Church, especially for those Anglicans worldwide who are living in faithful, committed same-sex partnerships, and also for those Anglicans worldwide who do not see how such relationships can be open to God's blessing."
The Canadian Primate, Archbishop Hutchison, expressed regret over strained relationships that its actions have caused and agreed to a moratorium on dioceses authorizing same-sex blessings rites until the General Synod considers the matter.
On June 22, 2005, the Anglican Consultative Council, citing the standard of Christian teaching on matters of human sexuality expressed in the 1998 Lambeth Resolution 1.10, endorsed the Primates' request that "in order to recognize the integrity of all parties, the Episcopal Church (USA) and the Anglican Church of Canada voluntarily withdraw their members from the Anglican Consultative Council for the period leading up to the next Lambeth Conference."
Thus, the Episcopal Church (USA), like a person addicted to hard drugs, cannot give up its romance with homosexuality and instead acquiesced to the relatively mild and inconsequential censure implicit in the ACC request for "voluntary withdrawal" from the council.
The American Anglican Council Calls the EC (USA) Response "Blasphemous."
The reaction from the American Anglican Council (AAC) to the EC (USA) presentation was swift and blunt, calling their defense "shameless" and declaring it was "blasphemous to suggest that the Holy Spirit would lead any Christian to accept or embrace doctrine or behavior contradicted throughout the body of Scripture."
The AAC dismissed out of hand a claim by the church's emissaries that "God designed and created a percentage of the population to be gay." In a sharply worded rebuttal, the ACC said, "It is not established that same-sex attraction is innate [and] God cannot be understood as having created what His revealed Word defines as sinful."
In its concluding statement, the AAC ridiculed their call for "unity in disagreement," and saw only a church in deep distress: "The logical conclusion of [their] argument is that unity is more important than truth. . . . The Episcopal Church is fractured and bleeding; punitive actions against the orthodox abound; and trust has been broken over and over. Additionally, data provided by the Episcopal Church itself demonstrates a church in disarray with a significant number of churches and individuals leaving ECUSA and dioceses experiencing serious budgetary shortfalls. It is most unfortunate that many other bishops representing a radically different view were not included in this ECUSA team."
The EC (USA), having weathered many storms in the past that left it intact but drove its membership into mass exodus, appears to have finally reached the end of the road, and a major breakup of the denomination seems inevitable.
--Al Dobras is a freelance writer on religious and cultural issues and an electronics engineer. He lives in Springfield, Virginia
Jeff, why don't you concentrate on something more important to your, IMO, vapant life, like playing cat and mouse bedding Xena.
Yeah, that is why they just build a retirement home for fags in Hollyweird and it only has 100 apartments!
Whoah there! Where did that come from? I wasn't trying to be confrontational. I was simply trying to discuss political party theroy. For instance, look at how poorly the Democrats have done since installing Dean as their chairman.
As far as your woman Xenalyte goes, she's the cat and I'm the mouse, right?
You might want to check your facts before you go on your little tirades against anyone who criticizes the Republican party about abortion. Here's the facts on abortion funding through "Title X". and H.R. 4818, which a majority of Republicans, and the President signed.
http://www.covenantnews.com/lefemine050208.htm
"President George W. Bush and the Republican-majority Congress increased Title X to record $288.3 million in FY 2005"
Same sex civil unions
Abortion
Unlimited immigration
The status quo of the IRS.
And please show me where they are in the Republican platform.
You can't and don't bring up the quote from loser Bob Dole from 96. It ain't 1996 anymore and Bob Dole is too busy doing Viagra commericals.
I can show you where abortion for all, semi-acceptance of gay marriage, and tax hikes for all from the last democrat party platform.
Romans Chapter 1 says otherwise.
Any believer IMHO is obligated to vote with their feet on this matter. Whether to Rome or to the Southern Baptists, just away from this abomination!
Methodists (UMC) - urban congregations dead liberal, rural congregations for the most part still faithful. An example of the former is a UMC church in Houston TX (inside the loop) preaching the "queer Jesus" blasphemy - and a female paster at that.
Platforms really don't mean anything. People need to acknowledfge that RINO's exist, and we as conservatives must work to dilute their influence on the party. I think you're picking unnecessary fights on this thread.
It's a fake, phony-baloney church anyway - cooked up by a bloodthirsty English king who was into murdering his wives. No wonder it's screwed up.
Shudder! Whatever the problems may be in the Catholic Church, I crossed the Tiber just in the nick of time, it seems! It isn't the church that C.S. Lewis knew, that is for sure; he is probably turning over in his grave at all this stuff! I don't call 'em "episcopagan" for nothing!
>"And please show me where they are in the Republican platform"<
It's not about words. it's about *actions*.
Show me where in the last 5 years, the Republicans have offered to make any significant changes to the IRS.
Show me where Republicans have offered up a flat tax bill, or elimination of the federal income tax, period.
Show me the Republican bill offering to allow people to opt out of the Social Security system, if they so choose.
Show me where the Republican Party has called for the elimination of funding Planned Parenthood.
No, the Republicrats are happy with the *stauts quo*
Ahem.
Best not to insult the well-armed among us Anglicans.
The UCC, the PRESBIES, the United Methodists, the Anglican-Episcopals, all the so-called liberal Christian???????churches have decided to simply destroy their ethical-theological-rational understanding of the Bible, Jesus, and the necessity for One Way to Heaven reality. They are the heirs of fighting Bob Ingersol, the German contexualists, Darrow and the Reinhold's of yesteryear. They were wrong then and they are wrong now. Some 50,000 people a year leave these denominations and have been doing so since the Angela Davis affair.Though they are Universalists in their view of heaven and hell(they deny hell), I would not like to be in their spiritual shoes when they assume room temperature!!
Never bring a scimitar to a pike fight.
Don't mind him, he's cranky again. I hope all is well with you and that you're enjoying your summer. My scandalous vapant life has been fun as of late.
And what makes you think I don't have access to a nice halberd? As if! ;)
My summer has been quite busy, what with planning a wedding and getting ready for the Festival and working insane hours.
And now I find out you and I have a thing going, you vapant scandalous monger. How the hell am I supposed to work THAT in?
Don't be. Due to the nature of the Internet, it is best to never let anything posted personally bother you.
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