Posted on 03/12/2007 5:58:21 AM PDT by A. Pole
[...]
Katharine Jefferts Schori, the first female presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, is used to hostility from the right wing of her denomination. Now, she faces a rebellion among her longtime allies on the left.
With more puzzlement than rancor, liberal Episcopalians are questioning why Jefferts Schori signed an international statement last month that, in their view, demands a halt to 30 years of growing acceptance of gay men and lesbians.
"The overwhelming response I'm hearing is, 'Wait a minute! We're not prepared to turn back the clock,' " said the Rev. Ruth Meyers, academic dean of Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, Ill.
The bishops of all 111 Episcopal dioceses will meet this week at a church retreat center near Houston to consider their response to an ultimatum issued in Tanzania on Feb. 19 by the primates, or heads, of the 38 national churches that make up the worldwide Anglican Communion.
[...]
In an attempt to prevent a schism, Jefferts Schori and her fellow primates gave U.S. bishops until Sept. 30 to make an unambiguous, collective promise that they will not consent to the election of any more gay bishops and will not authorize blessings of same-sex couples.
[...]
Liberal Episcopalians also object to the ultimatum on procedural grounds, noting that the primates' Tanzania communique was addressed solely to U.S. bishops, as though they can speak for the American church.
[...]
She has made clear that she still supports the "full inclusion" of gay men and lesbians at all levels of the church. But she is urging the Episcopal Church to accept the primates' call for self-restraint, which she has compared to "a season of fasting," so that the U.S. church can continue to be a voice at the Anglican table.
[...]
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Hey, we turn back the clock once a year at my house!
But if Schori signed it, then the American church has in fact spoken, hasn't it? These libs need a basic course in logic...
Unbelievable. Well, not really. The Episcopal Church seems to be having trouble in this area lately which could be solved if they'd just read their bible.
FYI..the WaPo wades in...
The Church of What's Happening Now is having a tizzy fit. P.S. I like your tag line.
It's difficult to sack an Episcopal Bishop, but not impossible. The Diocese of New Jersey proved that.
What an ugly business this "church" is! Our local Episcopal congregation lost half of its members over the past couple years, and then the remaining group voted overwhelmingly to seek oversight from an African bishop instead of the one here in Atlanta. Of course, the local bishop's immediate response was to kick them off the property and threaten them with expensive litigation if they tried to keep the nearly-new buildings they had constructed with their own money. I'm just hoping the bishop doesn't turn the property into a gay bar.
That a church has a clock to turn and a left and right indicates major problems in my eyes.
Out of curiosity, this which Episcopalian Church was this in Atlanta? I used to occasionally attend St. Bartholomew and St. Philip while I was in school there. Mainly for evensong--still one very beautiful aspect of the Episcopalian Church.
It's always amazed me how something so typically traditional has gone the way that church has. Absolutely no rudder whatsoever.
It looks like the heretical bishop's (and other heretics) usual response of using coercion to "help" the remaining congregation think through their imminent action to seek oversight elsewhere.
anglican ping
I think the reference is to the one in Peachtree City. I believe it is St. Andrews in the Pines. See
http://www.thecitizen.com/node/14329
Yep.
Have they moved on, or are they staying on the property and fighting?
They had planned to fight since most of the property was not held in the name of the diocese. However, the bishop's lawyers evidently convinced them they did not have enough money to fight the Episcopal Church, so they are now worshipping at the public amphitheater, while the church buildings are used for the handful of people who prefer gays to God.
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