A South Florida Anglican thinks

I don't want to sound glib…but I have to say…the Episcopal Church of the United States (ECUSA), now called simply “The Episcopal Church” (TEC) is a train wreck.

You don’t have to be a genius, or a scholar, or a leader or a clergyperson to see that. A cursory look at the goings-on at the recent General Convention in Ohio says it all. I don’t want to go into all the details but think of it:

• Your Anglican Family, whom you say you want to be with, says you must apologize for something you did, as a precursor for “congenial family relations" and you just can't bring yourself to - one group refuses outright and the other brings pressure to bear to get the first group to be a hypocrite like they are.
  
  
• The vote on Wednesday for B033 reversed the choice of the House of Deputies on Tuesday to reject the Windsor report. Bishop Jack Iker - "I think that the House of Deputies is schizophrenic. I'm not sure how you can be of two different minds on two different days."
  
  
• Your family has problems with a controversial action you did. You go ahead and do another - A female Presiding Bishop is a “nice to have” not a “must have”. Where is the sacrificial living (if meat offends my brother, etc.). The issue of right or wrong hasn’t even been considered yet.
  
  
• The new PB (PB-elect) goes off and starts talking about "Our mother Jesus gives birth to a new creation. And you and I are His children." Again, let’s get stupidly crazy and suppose she is correct and the Anglican Family is just dim-witted to not realize that fact. Is that the way to begin one’s ministry?...by adding fuel to fire?
  
  
• The GC supports a woman’s right to choose and refuses to break ties with the group “Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.”. Again, let’s be stupid and say they are right. Why would you frame your response as: "First they came for the homosexuals, and then they came to erode the rights of women." - The Rev. Canon Elizabeth Keaton of the Diocese of Newark.
  
  
• GC considered but couldn’t bring themselves to pass a resolution affirming that the 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church declares its unchanging commitment to Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the only name by which any person may be saved (Article XVIII); and be it further Resolved, That we acknowledge the solemn responsibility placed upon us to share Christ with all persons when we hear His words, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life."
  
  Then listen to this reasoning by . The Rev. Canon Eugene McDowell of the Diocese of North Carolina, Canon Theologian for the Diocese of North Carolina – “ ‘This type of language was used in 1920s and 1930s to alienate the type of people who were executed,’ he was quoted as saying. ‘It was called the Holocaust.’”
  
  The final tally on the electronic vote was 70.5 percent for discharge (675 votes) and just 29.5 (242 votes) to consider the resolution affirming Jesus Christ as Lord.
  

These are only a few issues.

I think Bishop Robert Duncan, speaking specifically about the election of the new PB, said it correctly: “the American Church...(is) saying we can do what we believe we ought to do, no matter the consequences."

IT’S THE AMERICAN WAY.

I just don’t get this “American Way”.

W.W.J.D..?

...Or is that now too old school...too passé?

# posted by subjective object @ Friday, June 23, 2006