More from the Church of Making Irony Redundant.
These guys never fail to amaze. They have an astonishingly complicated array of commission and conventions and meetings and votes… all for about 4 people. And those 4 are going to do what they want anyway.
Episcopalians Review a New Rite for Gay Unions
Episcopalians, gathering this week in Indianapolis for their triennial General Convention, are expected to overwhelmingly approve trial use of a new liturgy for blessing same-sex unions…
In 2009, the Episcopal Church lifted a temporary ban on blessing gay unions and said bishops may provide “generous pastoral response” to gay couples, especially in states that allow civil unions or gay marriages.
Many Episcopal bishops now permit the blessing of same-sex relationships, and some in states where gay marriage is legal — including Bishop M. Thomas Shaw of the Diocese of Massachusetts, which runs roughly east of Interstate 495 — let priests officiate at the marriage of same-sex couples.
[Get this… ] But because the Episcopal Church canons and the Book of Common Prayer describe marriage as between a man and woman, some bishops have not embraced same-sex blessings or weddings. [Imagine that!] Bishop Gordon Paul Scruton of the Diocese of Western Massachusetts, does not allow priests to do either.[..]
Benedict XVI is the Pope of Christian Unity.
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Let us never forget Christopher 0Johnson’s First Law of Episcopal Thermodynamics: “Every joke you make about the Episcopal Organization eventually comes true.”
And that’s only accelerating now that more and more of the sane folk are leaving for life-giving pastures.
Not to worry; the bishops who aren’t in favor of the SSB rite will soon be hounded out. Maybe some of them will start to reexamine what they believe and come home to Mother Church. I pray for those Christians are still in the Episcopal organization. May the Lord call them to His Church, the sooner the better!
Amen, and amen.
We realized that ECUSA was circling the drain back in 2006, after GC voted to confirm the consecration of a ‘bishop’ who left his wife and two little girls to live in sin with a man (and run a website for ‘questioning’ teens on the side.) That was when my formerly-Methodist husband announced that we were going to RCIA – much to my surprise. I had neglected to put into my calculations that his mom was pure New Jersey Irish Catholic even though she married a Preacher’s Kid.
But if people haven’t realized by now that something is wrong, I don’t see how they will suddenly come to their senses (although people might have said the same thing about us when we hung in through the prayer book revision and the ‘ordination’ of women.)
It has always been interesting to me that the press and public at large castigate the Church for the misconduct of a few priests, largely in the past — while ignoring the huge problem of predatory homosexual clerics in ECUSA (which predates their loud public advocacy. Everyone was well aware of the predilections of several of our local clergy back in the 80s).
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AnAmericanMom said: “But if people haven’t realized by now that something is wrong, I don’t see how they will suddenly come to their senses (although people might have said the same thing about us when we hung in through the prayer book revision and the ‘ordination’ of women.)”
I tend to agree, AAM, but then again, I read several blogs frequented by people who stayed thinking they could “change things from the inside”. I have close relatives in that category. My breaking point came earlier, but there is still a remnant of Christians in the Episcopal Organization. I’m starting to see more and more articles and comments about exploring the teachings of the Church or at least leaving for some Anglican spin-off. Since I went that route myself initially, I think there is cause for some hope. I’m convinced the Lord is moving to get His family back together.
Yes, in between hip-hop worship services and Friday Muslim prayers, there are same-sex wedding at Bishop Shaw’s cathedral in Boston (just down the street from John Kerry’s own Paulist Center). Katherine Ragsdale, the dean of the Episcopal Divinity School famous for her “abortion is a blessing” sermon, “married” another priestess last year, in a service conducted by Shaw:
http://towleroad.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c730253ef0148c74c5283970c-800wi
Father,
Here are two of my favorite ads for the Episcopal Church:
http://www.queerty.com/wp/docs/2009/07/the_episcopal_church1.png
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ih44QfUfNns/Sh86KtkUBwI/AAAAAAAAH1w/IuWpojK9auw/s400/Episcopal+welcome.png
Since I came to the Church from the Episcopal Church (which was sold to me as the Catholic Church without all the extra stuff, naive, stupid me), this interested me greatly. From Virtue Online; http://www.virtueonline.org, I got this:
Quoting Rauschenbach, Jefferts Schori told the capacity congregation that this was “not a matter of getting individuals to heaven, but of transforming life on earth into the harmony of heaven.”
I’m so glad I left, thank you Jesus!
This is why we have the Pope. Without the Pope, there’s no remedy for this kind of thing.
Happily, I just receive an email from my friends at the Church of the Incarnation in Orlando; formerly Anglican, they will all be received into the Catholic Church through the Anglican Ordinariate on September 16, 2012!! I rejoice with them!! Welcome Home, my dear friends!
Can I just say how THRILLED I am to be Catholic now? It’s becoming more and more embarrassing to say I was ever a member of the Episcopal church. Yeesh.
And, a member of our government here just came out with a statement pushing homosexual marriages in churches! Nick Clegg is all for this as seen here–http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9379483/Nick-Clegg-backs-gay-marriage-in-churches-in-break-with-David-Cameron-pledge.html
and, of course, the Anglican Synod votes on women bishops on Monday and that church will implode.
Hoya Girl, I second your comment. I am sooooooooo happy and proud to be a Catholic woman. No more bowing my head in shame and mumbling “episcopalian” when people ask me my religion. No matter the challenges, knowing that I am home at last is such an enormous, happy relief.
Great news to hear about the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Orlando! On my way to Catholicism from Pentecostalism, I made a pit-stop in an ACA church in Ocala. It’s liturgy was beautiful (and I cringed when I went to my first Catholic Mass…ugghhhh) and it seemed the “via media”. But, alas, I came to the conclusion that “if Jesus is Who He says He is, then the Church has to be what He says it is”; and that includes Peter… My rector at St. George’s was good friends with Bishop Campese at Incarnation. This is welcomed news, indeed! I must now check to see if Fr. Rushlow and St. George’s is coming in, as well!
“This Church constituted and organized in the world as a society, subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him, although many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside of its visible structure.”-Lumen Gentium 8
I’m guessing this would not qualify as an element of sanctification and/or truth.
I’m another refugee from the Episcopal Organization. They’ve eaten their own brains now for a couple of decades. Other than Tom Wright, I can’t think of an Anglican theologian who has produced any significant work in recent years.
I occasionally amuse myself by imagining Dr. Jefferts-Schori trying to debate Pope Benedict on theology. This is probably a sin against charity…
MargaretC said: “I occasionally amuse myself by imagining Dr. Jefferts-Schori trying to debate Pope Benedict on theology.”
Well, now be fair, MargaretC. Dr. J-S’s doctorate is in oceanography. You can’t expect her to know anything about Christianity!
Sissy,
I’m older than I thought. It was GC 2003 when Bishop Vicky Gene was voted on. We were received into safe harbor Memorial Day weekend 2004.
Met a member of our former church this morning. Said he hadn’t seen us around. I just grinned and said, “We turned Papist.” Freaked him out a little. I have no idea why he’s still there, and didn’t ask. Seems like there’s no point.
Yes, AnAmericanMom, we got out after 2003, also. We were attending one of the oldest Episcopal “churches” in America at that time, and right after GC 2003, 700 members left. Many ended up in a mega-nondenominational fellowship. We tried the Anglican route. I wish we had been as smart as you were. Love your comment to the former parishioners. I’ll have to remember that.
We also investigated the Anglicans, but there was no viable alternative for us here.
The problem for us was that our former parish (before it was taken over by the loons when a new rector was called) was one of the few “high” parishes in a traditionally “low” diocese. So the Anglican breakaways were all low church. We did check out the “Anglo-Catholic” a/k/a “more Roman than Rome” parish, which was still part of the diocese but sort of on its own planet, and the bishops had let them alone to go their own way for many years. But the average age of the congregation was about 65, and we had at the time two pre-teen children to consider. Plus the rector was leaving to be chaplain for a convent of Episcopalian nuns in Maryland. They (and he) came over under the Pastoral Provision a year or so later.
We visited probably 8-10 churches in the immediate area. When we parked in the Holy Spirit parking lot we had a ‘prayer huddle’ and asked for guidance. Be careful what you ask for! while we were standing in the narthex we met half a dozen people we knew – a fellow Scoutmaster, a guy I used to practice law with, an old friend of my mother’s who had converted, and 2-3 school friends of my daughter. It was absolutely comical. “Thank you very much, Lord, we get the message!” We’ve been very happy here.
AnAmericanMother: it’s amazing how He begins to surround you with signs and people who point you in the right direction as you approach your destination. I suddenly (it seemed) starting running into Catholics everywhere. We moved to a new house, and found ourselves surrounded by Catholics! Every single family on our street was Catholic. A close relative told me out of the blue that her entire family was joining the Church. I had surgery and dreamed the Blessed Virgin Mary came in my room and told to ask my surgeon where she went to church. So, the next morning, I did, and she said “Oh I’m a Catholic….I attend St. So-and So.” It became funny after a while. So, I said “yes” and that was one of the happiest days of my life. The Lord is patient and so very good.