One problems with Lefties is that they see any group and they want to immediately harness them to some political cause. It is a waste of time, in their minds, to have people gathering every week if they cannot be used to accomplish something “useful”.
The problem is that the Episcopal Church is having a difficult time getting them to gather in the first place.
I have tried to explain to my Vestry what I call “The Law of 90s”.
Say you have a bunch of political issues, each of which is a 90/10 prospect, which is to say it is supported by 90% of the population. These are things that “everybody” agrees on. Any politician would be crazy not to jump on the “right” side of all of these issues. It is a no-brainer.
Buy say you are trying to run a church. If you adopt five 90/10 positions, one after the other, you have angered 10%, then 19%, then 27%, then 34%, and finally 41% of your congregation. Furthermore, if somebody is so committed to an idea that he is willing to hold it even when it is a 10% proposition, it is probably something that he will quit a Parish over.
So by becoming polically activist, a church will drive people out the door, a little at a time. For most Episcopal parishes, if they lose 41% of their parishioners, they will close within a year.
When you take a political position in the pulpit, you alienate about half the congregation.