" I pray that you will not succeed in your attempts to take them (the children) from this orthodox house."
I'm not sure how you equate her desire to have her attempts to keep her family in the orthodox house to illegal aliens being unhappy about not being fully welcomed. How do you take this to a dubious argument about her unScriptural-ness?
What is doubly sad here is the fate of the women priests caught in between. The Continuum (at least much of it, certainly my corner) won’t accept them. Not all the world-wide Anglican Communion will either, I believe.
It’s heart-breaking, because I knew one of the first women to be ordained (in our area), and I know it was not out of any political or feminist agenda. What I saw is that is where her heart was. I was quite young and knew nothing else; that is just what I saw.
I have since been brought to question womens’ ordination – but at the same time there is this horrible question: What of those women who were ordained, when the church that did it in effect drives them out? By charging ahead alone as it did, ECUSA has done a terrible thing to these people, including the Rev. Alice Linsley.
When ECUSA left me, a long time ago, I was very angry with it. That died in a while as I made my home in a Continuing church, got busy, and quit looking back. But this piece tonight rekindles a bit of that anger.
I have no answers, only another issue on my heart for prayer: The Rev. Linsley and her ilk.
CH
Comment by Continuing Home — 4/2/2005 @ 1:10 am
Thank you, Continuing Home. I took my ordination vows deeply to heart and at that moment when the bishop and presbyters placed their hands on my head I felt heat throughout my entire being and I knew that I would never be the same. I do believe that I am in apostolic sucession, and that this is an ontological change. I value the priestly work and recognize there is none like it. Having said this, I am willing to set aside my orders if this can bring greater unity to orthodox Anglican bodies. This was suggested by two men I greatly respect: Dr. Peter Toon and Dr. Peter Moore. I speak for myself only, but as long as the Church uses my gifts, I am content not to do altar service.
Comment by alice Linsley+ — 4/2/2005 @ 9:01 am
I'm sorry, Koloko, but I don't see where I said what you quote.
But the analogy is: just as simply BEING an illegal immigrant is prima facie evidence of lawbreaking and thus anything which follows as a consequence of lawbreaking cannot really be sympathized with, just so, BEING a female ordinand is prima facie evidence of unScriptural attitude (at least in this regard), and thus anything that follows from such unScriptural-ness is equally hard to sympathize with. If those her wilfull disregard of Scriptural precept in ordination empowered now do not permit her to disagree with them and thus want to evict her, the eviction is caused by her own fault in the first place.
Is that clearer?
In Christ,
Deacon Paul+
One further point: perhaps Ms. Alice is in fact worshipping in an Anglican church that has kept to the historic faith (that is not at all clear from her text, which is allusive on the point at clearest). But that would mean that she has in fact stopped employing her orders and does recognize their innate invalidity. She appears to consider them to be valid. Thus whatever else is true about her Scriptural beliefs, this is false and heretical and it led to what heresy always leads to: confusion, discord, mutual distrust and exchanges of clarifying emails between people who don't know each other very well but very much need to.
In Christ,
Deacon Paul+