Posted on 08/02/2003 3:49:56 PM PDT by NYer
In recent discussions at Envoy Encore concerning the situation in the Episcopalian Church, a number of our readers raised the name of Lee Penn -- a convert to Catholicism from the Episcopalian Church in the United States of America (ECUSA) and a noted commentator on Anglican affairs. So I invited Lee to do an interview for Envoy Encore on the current state of affairs in ECUSA, which he graciously accepted. Here's the text of the interview, in real time, by means of our internet messaging service:
Pete: To begin, what is your background with Episcopalianism?
Lee: I was baptized as a child, and went to an Episcopal day school in elementary school in the early 1960s. After 1965, the family stopped practicing the faith. In 1978, I returned to Christ, and began attending Episcopal and Methodist parishes. Settled in with an Episcopal parish in 1983, and remained in the denomination till 1995. When I left to become Eastern Catholic.
Pete: What issues led you into the Catholic Church?
Lee: 1. My local bishop, Swing of California, founded the United Religions Initiative (URI). He also received Matthew Fox as an Episcopal priest .... and I could not stand to be in communion with him
2. Radical experiments had started in our parish liturgy. I promised myself that I would leave if they started calling God "she" at the parish. They did .... and the next Sunday, I was worshiping with the Russian Orthodox for the first time.
3. I was attracted by the pro-life witness of the Pope and the Catholic Church.
Pete: Could you please explain a little bit more about URI, and why it troubles you?
Lee: URI is a movement with the stated aim of ending religious violence; it also has a strong environmental component, and promises to create "cultures of peace, justice, and healing for the earth and all living beings." Its leaders consistently endorse abortion and population control and habitually equate Christian evangelism to manipulative or violent "proselytyzing." Their view is that we will have peace if the 'exclusive religions" renounce their truth claims.
Pete: Speaking of the culture of death, has this become a big issue in ECUSA?
Lee: The abortion battle was lost in ECUSA long ago, and likewise euthanasia. Contraception has been accepted for decades. Likewise remarriage after divorce So everyone now is fighting over a sexual orientation that affects about 2-3% of the population ....... I just learned that Swing's diocese is the one that introduced the resolution to start developiing same-sex union rites
Pete: How serious is this debate over homosexuality at ECUSA's current convention?
Lee: It could lead to a schism .... if everyone follows through on their pre-Convention threats. (I have seen so many lines drawn in the sand get washed away, however.)
Pete: Who is drawing the lines right now?
Lee: The primates from some African and Asian provinces are threatening to break communion with ECUSA. I do not have the details immediately at hand Supposedly, either the election of the gay bishop for New Hampshire or the approval of same-sex rites would do it.
Pete: Is there any evidence that these Third-World bishops will either back down or follow through?
Lee: There have been some threats before, ever since 1997 and the aftermath of Lambeth in 1998, but no follow-through yet. (I think some diocese have broken communion with New Westminster, a Canadian diocese that approved same-sex rites a few months ago.)
Pete: What about the recent Jeffry John affair in England?
Lee: Hard to belive that ECUSA would really ignore the warnings and do either of these things. After all, the gay bishop-nominee in the UK withdrew. And gay unions are already occurring in the majority of ECUSA dioceses. Why would the ECUSA liberals insist on doing it in the middle of the road and scaring the horses?
Pete: Well what do you think is going on in ECUSA here?
Lee: I really do not know. Maybe the US liberals think that can have it all, and are willing to tell everyone else to like it or lump it.
Pete: Do you think same-sex blessings and/or Gene Robinson's episcopal nomination will be approved?
Lee: I really do not know. I hear rumors that the vote margin for Robinson is narrowing. I would not be surprised by a close vote in either direction on either issue.
Pete: What do you foresee happening if either one of these issues passes, both in ECUSA and in the Anglican communion as a whole?
Lee: 1. Some US dioceses may break communion w/ECUSA, and some parishes may do so as well. More fun for lawyers as everyone fights for property and pension funds. 2, Some overseas provinces may break communion with ECUSA. 3. I Do not know how many ECUSA members will come over to Rome. The Anglican Use rite would be a draw; the silly stuff that ECUSA members will see in lots of liberal RC parishes will give them flash-backs
Pete: How large do you anticipate this break to be?
LeePenn: I do not know how large the break would be. Maximum case: USA, Australia, Canada, South Africa, and the UK, versus the rest of the world.
Pete: Who is likely to lead each side, both in terms of Episcopalianism in the United States and in terms of the Anglican Communion as a whole?
Lee: Rowan Williams and the other liberal prelates who are are already in power, for the North; Akinola of Nigeria, or someone equivalent, for the Global South.
Pete: What about in the United States? Who would lead the conservative exodus in the United States?
Lee: I do not know. Maybe the most conservative 25% will leave ... tops. The evangelicals, and the 2 or 3 Anglo-Catholics who remain will lead some sort of movement.
Pete: How do you anticipate the Anglican Mission in America (AMiA) will factor into this?
Lee: It may be a pole arouond which the evangelicals will converge.
Pete: Thanks for sharing with us. Any other predictions coming out of the current ECUSA convention?
Lee: If the conservatives walk out in mid-convention, the remaining liberals will have a gay time indeed.
Say what you will about Vatican Council II, the church has maintained a steady course through ALL of these issues and continues to do so now.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.