Not me. Unchurched, yes, atheist/agnostic, no. Cradle Episcopalian, but that church left me when it allowed women in the priesthood.
Unfortunately, history records that the Episcopal church has been at the forefront of the assault on Christianity. First major denomination to accept artificial birth control, early adopters of women "priestesses", and then practicing gays, first as priests, later as bishops.
This is not to say that there are not many good caring Christians in the E-church, but their numbers are dwindling fast.
"This is a point the good Lord had to make by causing the reformation churches to bud off, using the witness of the founding Christians, a witness more commonly known today as the Bible, as their connection to the body.
Can't agree with you there. The whole "sola scriptura" thing is simply ridiculous (and in fact the Bible itself says precisely that in several different ways and places).
I note that what were the major "reformation churches" are very rapidly following the Episcopalians in their circling of the drain, adopting many of the same things the Episcopalians have caved on.
Hey, Warty, I’m not here to stump for fading “mainlines.” They have compromised badly with the world. It’s more like world with a Christianesque patina.
That is not, I aver, your fair reference point for the forte of the evangelical church. For that, check out something more like fundamentalists — for example (but not limited to) most Southern Baptist congregations. Baptists budded off of the Anglican church several centuries ago; they did not care for its worldly ties and felt that the Lord deserved better focus. That was a very wise move on the part of the Baptists looking at where the Anglicans/Episcopalians have gone!
The reason “sola scriptura” has become a sticking point, I believe, is that people are bringing their preconceptions to what that means. I’d believe it more accurately that it means scripture AND Spirit. Now it ought to be obvious that if there is a Holy Spirit at all, that is going to be the same Holy Spirit anywhere in creation. If people still come off with varying readings after making their best effort to get the Spirit’s illumination on the bible, then it is the people’s fault, not the Spirit’s fault. However another salient point is that earthly perfection is not needed for earthly effectiveness. Salvation promises the endpoint and it says something about what the transition will be like. It never promises earthly perfection.