Posted on 12/08/2007 4:08:01 PM PST by Zakeet
FRESNO, California (Reuters) - An entire California diocese of the U.S. Episcopal Church voted to secede on Saturday in a historic split after years of disagreement over the church's expanding support for gay and women's rights.
Clergy and lay representatives of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin, based in Fresno in central California, voted to leave the church, which has been in turmoil since 2003 when U.S. Episcopalians consecrated their first openly gay bishop.
"We've seen a miracle here today," Bishop John-David Schofield said after the vote. "We are already outside the jurisdiction of the Episcopal Church."
The head of the U.S. Episcopal Church, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, said the church had received word of the decision "with sadness."
"We deeply regret their unwillingness or inability to live within the historical Anglican understanding of comprehensiveness," she said in a statement.
There are about 2.4 million members of the Episcopal Church, the U.S. branch of the 77-million-member global Anglican Communion, as the worldwide church is called.
Delegates voted 173-22 for secession, far more than the two-thirds majority needed.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Heresy and the lavender mafia went hand in hand. Along with lack of vocations (if there's no serious call to a life of sacrifice and devotion to duty, many young men ask themselves, 'why bother?')
This archdiocese is hard line orthodox and full of old-fashioned Irish priests (who coincidentally are known locally as the "Irish Mafia"). They are pretty grim old birds who take no prisoners. They not only dropped the hammer on the two offenders here, they canned all their associates and hangers-on as well. It was a pretty severe housecleaning.
What's interesting is that this archdiocese has never lacked for vocations -- the seminary is full, we have a full-time Vocations Director, our parish alone has sent six or seven young men to seminary. Just as heterodoxy and scandal and lack of vocations go together, so do orthodoxy, probity, and plenty of good young men answering the call.
He looks radiant! A group filled with the conviction and clarity of the Holy Spirit shrugs off the robes and ties of the devil to shine with the light of God. Good for them. May many, many more follow!!!!
God bless, guide and protect this diocese!!
Is comprehensiveness even in the bible? Was that word even invented back then?—lol. To comprehend—yes. Comprehensiveness sounds like some non-word made up by the PC crowd—one of many.
Protestantism continues its decline, trying to be “relevant”.
Consider becoming a traditional (i.e. Latin Mass) Catholic. You will encounter no nonsense there but abundant and correct worship of the Lord.
The diluted, popularized and heavily modernized Vatican II Mass, which is probably all you've seen, is 80% Protestant anyway, and hardly worth the conversion from Episcopalian.
Outside of the Bay Area and Los Angeles, California is quite conservative. It’s just that the MSM only covers the above!
My whole family left the PresbyterianUSA church for much the same reasons. While uncomfortable to be cast adrift, it is a great time to return to the basis of your faith- To turn away from the rites of men and refocus on the Eternal. May God bless you for having the courage of your convictions. It will get better.
Hmmmm...they all use the same Bible, yet get a very different answer on the nature of homosexual acts.
Homos are a biological monstrosity and problem anywhere they go.
If they stayed locked up in the closet, everyting would be fine. But they seek not mere tolerance, but ENDORSEMENT and the right to proselytize their filthy, perverted lifestyle.
The only real solution is to stop tolerating them.
No matter WHAT the court of secular law says, there IS a higher authority that has a somewhat different take on the matter.
Then again, perhaps you are of the same opinion as British author Philip Pullman, and think that “God should be dead, if He is not”.
I’ll add you to the list...
Uh. No.
Not sure what RCIA is. I have been attending meetings where the basic tenets of Catholicism are discussed. I have also attended a couple of masses but of course, have not had communion. I have not had communion since I left my church in June. I need all the prayers I can get because I really feel like my soul is in jeopardy. Thank you.
My mom was ELCA but I know absolutely nothing about Missouri Synod Lutheran. It’s kind of hard to be of one religion for 40 years and then find that it has become a travesty. That’s a shock to the system. I’m not ready to give up quite yet but am open to alternatives.
Yes, that is exactly how I feel - cast adrift. I’m not a young person so it is very hard to deal with this since I am facing my own mortality. I just don’t understand how an entire religion can go so far off the right path. There is one very conservative parish in my city that broke away from the diocese about a year ago. I have never attended mass there but perhaps I should give it a chance. Most of the Catholic parishes in my city are quite liberal as well, which is surprising since I live in a very red state and city. Thank you for your words of encouragement.
I think I have a solution for you that may be the best of all possible worlds. Since you're in D-FW, how close are you to Arlington? (it's about halfway in between, isn't it?)
There is an Anglican Use Rite church there under the Pastoral Provision -- in other words, the entire parish left the Episcopal Church and joined the Catholic Church, but was able to continue using the Book of Common Prayer (iirc, 1662) with slight amendments to conform to Catholic doctrine.
I have seen a video of a service from another Anglican Use parish (Our Lady of Walsingham, Houston), and I think you will be very pleased indeed, especially if you prefer the Old Prayer Book to the new.
Hear hear.
Hiya Colonel
It might be that your parish doesn't have the formal RCIA program, but it sounds as though you're doing something similar. I'll keep you in my prayers for your completion of the classes and being received into full Communion with the Church.
Is it? Or were the California Catholics just further along in their degradation.
I think it depends on which branch of the Episcopalian Church you were raised in. I was raised and confirmed low Episcopalian and got put off by the Episcopal Church decades ago and haven’t been back, so a lot of my knowledge is pretty shaky.
Still, the church has been through a tremendous amount of upheaval since the ordination of Fr.(?) Gene Robinson(?). Given the scripture I was taught when I went to Sunday school, as well as the (seemingly endless) sermons we had, his ordination was anathema to the teachings of the church.
When I talk about Episcopalian churches severing their ties and aligning with the Anglican Church (your point on this issue of church lore was exceptionally well made), what I intended to convey was that they dropped any/all references to “Episcopal” and altered those references to indicate their Anglican roots.
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