Posted on 09/06/2002 10:57:28 AM PDT by pittsburgh gop guy
Deposed Episcopal priest invited to preach here
Pittsburgh bishop challenges action by Philadelphia diocese
Friday, September 06, 2002
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A deposed Episcopal priest from Philadelphia is celebrating Mass and holding a press conference at Pittsburgh's Trinity Cathedral this afternoon at the invitation of the local diocese.
The Rev. David L. Moyer was celebrating the 12:05 Mass at the Downtown cathedral. The Pittsburgh diocese said in a news release that the service had been scheduled to remind everyone of the "religious toleration of the founder of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, William Penn, on whose lands Trinity Cathedral is built."
Moyer was rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd near Philadelphia for 13 years, but this week he was deposed or removed on the grounds that he had abandoned the Communion by not allowing Bishop Charles E. Bennison Jr. to preach or preside at Communion or Confirmation there. Moyer had countered that Bennison is too liberal, partly because of his position on ordaining women.
Bishop Robert Duncan of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh said in a statement that he has assessed Bennison's actions against Moyer "to be utterly null and void, both legally and morally." Duncan named Moyer a priest associate of Grace Church in Mount Washington.
More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
I would hope some Catholic priests get inspired by the thoughtful actions of the Rev. David L. Moyer.
Any philly freepers than can shine some light on this?
As this affair shows, your apparent perception that Episcopalians are all a bunch of liberals is not entirely accurate, though it is alas all too common.
What's really interesting to me is the possible implications of Bp. Duncan's actions.
Well, it is as big an issue with us as it is with the Presbyterians and Methodists, to name a couple. Little wonder: the various denominational groups (e.g., "Integrity" for the ECUSA, "Dignity" for Catholics, and so on) operate under what appears to be a common umbrella political organization.
The Episcopal church is perhaps more prone to "take-over" by such groups because the bishop is quite powerful, and the fact that the selection of bishops is easily politicized. Once the gay (or whatever) groups can get one of "theirs" in, then it's well-nigh impossible to get him out.
We traditionalists have tended to ignore the political aspects of the matter, which explains why we're losing ground at the political level, and I have to say that it's the right approach even if it does cause short-term loss. (However, the healthiest parishes are mostly traditional, so eventually the problem may become self-correcting.)
However, there is an interesting dynamic to this: the healthiest parishes in the ECUSA are mostly traditionalist. One possible (likely?) outcome of this would be the introduction of "flying bishops," and Moyer may well become one of them.
If flying bishops ever come to be, I can see the ECUSA quickly transforming into two provinces -- traditional and liberal -- with the latter probably dying out pretty rapidly. (They've already done a fine job of jettisoning all of the traditional architecture, liturgy, and hymns.)
The transition would no doubt be rocky: bishops -- especially liberal ones -- have repeatedly shown themselves to be rather tightly bound to church properties and endowments.
But ultimately, I see this as an example of the Parable of the Weeds (Matt. 13:24-30)
You're welcome.
And Catholics (capital C) generally recognize that the diffences between Catholics and Episcopalians (and Anglicans and Lutherans) are actually quite minor compared to other protestant denominations.
(Of course, liturgy also tends to preserve traditional forms of worship and belief, so it's no surprise that these things have come under liberal attack in the past few decades.)
I'm aware of the name. However, ours is not a protestant church in the same sense that the Baptists are protestant. If one had to compare, I think we're closer to Catholics than Baptists. As it is, Anglicanism advertises itself as the middle way between Catholicism and Protestantism.
The Articles of Religion are a pretty good guide to show where we differ from Catholics and Protestants.
A mass implys transubstantiation, a totally alien concept to our tradition.
I've heard "mass" used in an Anglican setting (by Anglo-Catholics, as it happens), but I don't have the wherewithal to argue about the transubstantiation angle. I'll take your word for it, and agree that in most cases I've heard them called "services."
IIRC, the truly protestant approach to Communion is that it's a symbolic act of remembrance.
And, true to its "middle way" take on religion, Anglicans argue that Christ is present at Communion in some unknowable way.
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