Posted on 11/22/2003 1:16:56 PM PST by Clive
Kampala - Uganda's Anglican Church announced Saturday that it had severed relations with its counterpart in the United States after an openly gay bishop was consecrated earlier this month.
"The Province of the Church of Uganda (Anglican) cuts its fellowship and communion with the Episcopal Church of the United States (ECUS) on their action of consecrating and enthroning an openly homosexual bishop, Gene Robinson, in their Anglican communion," the House of Bishops said in a resolution.
The resolution, sent to AFP on Saturday, said the church in Uganda was ready to do the same with any other province that follows suit.
"We deplore, abhor and condemn in the strongest possible terms the resolution of ECUS to consecrate Robinson and all other resolutions related to the ordination of homosexuals and blessing of same-sex unions," said the resolution, signed by Anglican Church primate, Archbishop Livingstone Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo.
On November 2, Robinson became the first openly gay person to be consecrated bishop in the history of the Episcopal church.
In the run-up to his consecration, many bishops heading Anglican churches in parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America said they would not recognise a gay bishop in their churches and broke ties with the US affiliate.
"We want to make it crystal clear that the whole membership of the Church of Uganda uphold in full respect and faith the teachings of the holy scripture and that of our Lord Jesus Christ himself on human sexuality between male and female," the bishops' resolution said.
"We maintain that any same sex union is a disorder of God's creation," the bishops said, adding that the step taken by the church in the US has a negative consequence on the whole church.
"We pray that ECUS may revisit their decision on this matter," it added.
The Ugandan church said immediately after Robinson's consecration that it would sever relations with the US diocese of New Hampshire, the gay bishop's diocese, but not break ties with the whole of the US Episcopal Church, as some of its dioceses were opposed to the consecration of Robinson, a divorced father of two. - Sapa-AFP
How low we've sunk.
So9
If we get enough homosexual Bishops, we can probably merge with the Roman Catholics.
So9
Now it's Uganda, for cryin' out loud.
Ug!
Leni
That is without a doubt one of the most arrogant statements of religious elitism I have ever seen on FR.
| Tracking down the Holy Ghost We are all in this together Issue: Episcopal Life (December) 11/20/2003 |
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Though we delight in looking back at the past event with reverent joy, and we anticipate being gathered up in some rapturous future, it seems far more difficult for humankind to stay grounded in the present moment with its stresses and strains, and to discern the presence of Christ in the midst of it all. Yet, as hard as it is to hold on to sometimes, Christ is always coming among us: in virtue of the resurrection, Christ’s self revelation continues through the agency of the Holy Spirit to this very day. As Jesus told his disciples in the Gospel of John: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth…He will take what is mine and declare it to you.” The risen Christ is always making known more about himself and expanding his ongoing work of drawing all things to himself. There is always more for us to learn – both about who Christ is in our lives and what it means to have the Reign of God in our midst. As I stood at the door greeting parishioners following a recent Sunday liturgy, one of them shook my hand enthusiastically and declared with a broad smile: “This is a great time to be an Episcopalian.” Quite naturally, I agreed with him! I too believe this is a great time to be an Episcopalian, and certainly not because everything is easy and tranquil. As your chief pastor I am exceedingly mindful that recent events in the life of our church have left some among us deeply troubled and confused, and their concerns are very much on my heart. Having said that, I believe the very challenges of these present days are calling us to a new and deeper understanding of what it means to be the body of Christ. We are all in this together, and it is a great time to be an Episcopalian because we are all being stretched and something more is being made of us. Something is being drawn out of us, regardless of our points of view, or whether we are feeling joy or sorrow. Growing to maturity in Christ is not easy and obliges us to ask ourselves a number of questions. How ready are we to welcome Christ’s continuing self revelation? How ready are we to live with a “kingdom consciousness” knowing that this consciousness enfolds all things with an unyielding compassion, transcends our human judgments, and confounds our tidy and defensive notions of how God should and ought to act in the world? How ready are we to make room for the One who is always making all things new and drawing us out of our places of comfort and security? How available are we to the demands life places upon us and to the complex realities that confront us? These are very proper Advent questions for us as individuals, and for us as the Episcopal Church. Yes, indeed, this is a great time to be an Episcopalian. Something more is being made of us. What that something is remains to be seen, but it has to do with who we are together in Christ beyond our comprehension or imagining. As we are told in the first letter of John, “What we will be has not yet been revealed.” It is my confident sense that God in Christ is at work in us through the Spirit, and that through all we are living at this present time we are “growing up” into the fullness of who God desires us to be, not just as individuals but together as the risen body of his Son. The author Flannery O’Connor once described the writer’s task as following lines of spiritual motion from the surface of life into that deep place where revelation occurs. “This is simply an attempt to track down the Holy Ghost through a tangle of human suffering and aspiration and idiocy. It is an attempt that should be pursued with gusto.” This challenging task does not belong only to the writer but to all of us who have been baptized into Christ. In this Advent season may we be faithful to our task of tracking, and may we do it with gusto.
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And so it has been written. I know I read it somewhere, as I recall the book was very informative and fairly thick.
If you have any proof of a Catholic bishop who lives openly with his homosexual lover or -- better yet -- one who is actually married, has a civil divorce, and lives openly with his homosexual lover, then I suggest you forward that proof to Rome immediately.
OTOH, if you have no such proof, you're bearing false witness, and that's a sin.
Maybe you should stop pointing the finger at other Christian communions. You guys have plenty of problems of your own, not the least of which is that many of your own co-religionists worldwide are in the process of disfellowshipping you.
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