Posted on 11/23/2005 6:32:12 AM PST by NYer
A congregation that refused to pay its dues in protest of the Episcopal Church of the USA's ordination of a homosexual bishop has been dissolved by its diocese.
Rochester's Episcopal diocese in New York voted Saturday to shut down All Saints Episcopal Church in Irondequoit, according to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle newspaper.
The church's property and other assets are to be turned over to the trustees of the diocese.
The church refused to pay $16,000 it owed the diocese after the 2003 ordination of Bishop Gene Robinson in New Hampshire – a practicing homosexual – and the denomination's decision to give individual dioceses liberty to bless same-sex unions.
Parishioners gathered in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency hotel in Rochester to find out the result of the vote.
"Goodbye now and God bless you," said All Saints' leader, the Rev. David Harnish, as he left the room where the vote took place.
Harnish then went to the lobby where a small group from his church had gathered.
"The same bishop who strongly opposes the death penalty has issued an ecclesiastical death sentence," he told the parishioners. "But we are alive and well."
The Rev. Canon Carolyn Lumbard, a spokeswoman for the diocese, told the Rochester paper she had come to know many at All Saints after working with them for four years.
"I know their struggle is their struggle, just like my struggle is my struggle," she said. "I don't understand theirs and they don't understand mine, either."
But she emphasized the congregation still must pay its share of the dues.
Similarly, regardless of what you think about the laws of the U.S., "If you don't pay your taxes, you go to jail," said the Rev. Diana Purcell-Chapman, who says she reluctantly voted in favor of the resolution. "It had to be done."
Rev. Denise Yarbrough of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Penn Yan, N.Y., said, "We didn't kick them out. They chose to go."
Yarbrough, a lesbian, said she and others offered to dialogue with parishioners, but they were refused.
All Saints plans to continue operating and possibly be a home for others in the diocese who disagree with the Episcopal Church of the USA, according to Walck.
"We will be a church and we will be functioning," he said.
homos as the priest or head of a church makes it no longer a church. It's a house of homos. Stay away from houses of homos.
When I grew up in the Episcopal church being gay was considered something akin to an affliction, then it became an alternative lifestyle choice, then it was OK to be gay and even OK to be a gay bishop. I got out before they make being gay a requirement. I have taken communion from gay ministers and laypersons and certainly with gays, I employee an out of the closet lesbian. I don't want to be gay but I don't hate gays. My problem with gay bishops is that the church by choosing a gay to lead endorses the gays as a prefered lifestyle and I'm just not ready to go that far. I think the church should give me something to aspire to not an excuse for my own sins, whatever they are. I just can't get past the homosexual acts as sin thing. And I'm not sure I want to.
Church dismantling: Horrible event.
Christian faithful standing firm in the face of evil: Hopeful event.
She looks like an eager beaver
Just a second, Didn't Gene say just a couple of weeks ago that a LOT of Catholics were moving to his church?
Its not coincidence that this is happening at the same time the Catholic Church is finally putting its foot back down and disallowing Homosexuals into the priesthood.
I salute this congregation for understanding and supporting what the know to be unequivacally clear in the Holy Bible, and refusing to sway from the word, even if their Church clearly has.
"I left my church two weeks after 9/11 when our minister preached that the terrorist attack in NYC was due to 'world hunger'and that 'we must redistribute the wealth so that everyone has enough'."
Pathetic. Bin Laden is a billionaire. Arafat had hundreds of millions of dollars. Poverty has nothing to do with it.
There are hundreds of millions of dirt poor Brazilians. Did they attack us? No. Why? because they are Christian.
I bet God doesn't see it that way - In my mind, He is thinking of the "dues" the apostate ones will pay in the end...
What denomination was that if I may ask?
The church refused to pay $16,000 it owed the diocese after the 2003 ordination of Bishop Gene Robinson in New Hampshire – a practicing homosexual...
So there you go! There is a "gay" Gene, after all.
Happy Thanksgiving!
see post #20 - I was quoting originalbuckeye.
I appreciate your struggle and consternation. I went through a period with the Catholic Church that was similar (though for much different reasons) and found my way back stronger than ever through prayer, research and a great deal of faith.
I strongly recommend two books to you in your faith struggle:
"Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic" by David Currie. He wrote it as a letter to his family for them to understand how he found the Church.
"First Comes Love" by Dr Scott Hahn. It's a clearly-written and powerful piece of Catholic apologetics based on the written Word of the Bible.
May God bless you.
It was a snip from post #20, former Methodist original buckeye.
There are hundreds of millions of dirt poor Brazilians. Did they attack us? No. Why? because they are Christian.
Now, there's a statement worth repeating.
I hate to say it but this is the main reason I left the church.
Our pastor (Methodist) basically tells us "if you aren't relying on Christ, you are screwed". He's a social liberal who has to constantly battle the old folks and their worship of their pet projects. Although he is liberal, he seems to enjoy hanging out with the conservatives because he likes our theology better.
He all but canceled the community Thanksgiving service because he said it was infected with Unitarians. He refuses to attend the local Minister's Alliance for the same reason. He made our lefty Associate Pastor go to it. Our new Associate is conservative. I can't wait to hear about his reaction to his first meeting.
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.