Posted on 03/14/2006 11:56:49 AM PST by sionnsar
In the last year I have been approached from time to time by a few parishioners concerned that our Vestry might be giving serious thought to our exiting the Episcopal Church. “Can it be so bad, John, that this is necessary? The last thing the church needs is more division. Let’s stay in and continue to work from within, for renewal and reform as you, John, have always taught us.”
The question deserves a thoughtful answer. Understand, we are not at this time taking action to leave ECUSA – is it a possibility one day? It is certainly possible. None of knows what will happen in the future, and our Vestry has made no definite plans. We are, however, considering carefully all contingencies that we can imagine and attempting to be prepared with various strategies, depending on what happens in the future, and we are in regular discussion both with Bishop Lee as well as with leaders of a coalition of 25 or so other Virginia churches that share our deep concerns.
There are at least five key issues over which Episcopalians are divided. They are extremely serious issues and all of these issues are rooted in doctrine, even though we now live in a day when the culture is quite suspicious of doctrinal matters. The now-famous quote of our Bishop, that if you have to choose between heresy and schism, you should “choose heresy every time”, is evidence of a widely held view in our church. Our leaders are less and less certain about the ancient truths. When you deprive the church of its ancient orthodox underpinnings, you eventually pull the whole church down. It is happening before our eyes.
First consider the doctrine of man and the doctrine of revelation. The thinking that gained ascendancy in the 20th century in the Episcopal Church is that modern, rational enlightened man has the ability to discern between truth and error and right and wrong based upon modern knowledge and scientific method. This has led to a new doctrine of revelation with which Episcopalianism is now suffused – science became the modern, final arbiter of truth so that, for example, a clergy friend of mine says that if science finds a “homosexual gene”, if it’s found that same-sex attraction is in one’s DNA, well then the behavior must then be normal and acceptable. This kind of thinking has resulted in a “pick and choose” approach to the Bible whereby we accept what we think accords with modern wisdom, and reject what doesn’t. Scripture trumped by modernist thought!
Next, closely related is the doctrine of salvation. How does one enter into a right relationship with God? Orthodox Christianity has always maintained that Jesus Christ died for our sins and that through faith in Him, one may receive adoption into God’s family. The new thinking now moves more towards universalism, the idea that all people in the end will experience the same ultimate destiny – the sincere animist or Hindu will be as acceptable to God as the humble, faithful Christian. The reason evangelism is so rare within Episcopalianism is that most Episcopalians don’t really believe it’s necessary for people to commit their lives to Christ, as long as they do the best they can.
A fourth area of concern is the doctrine of regeneration. While the modern Episcopal Church has “dumbed down” doctrinally, it has at the same time elevated liturgy and rites. Listen to just about any current Episcopal leaders and they will speak about Holy Baptism and the Eucharist as the decisive actions of the Church. Infant baptism is viewed as the key rite of entry into the church, while Eucharist is the sustaining rite, and these are the two essentials “in which we now find our unity”. While there is truth in this, the early church placed great emphasis on repentance, and informed faith, moral discipline in accordance with the Commandments and also essential Christian doctrine. We have no doctrine of regeneration in the church now, other than a fuzzy notion that the new birth occurs in infant baptism. This places great emphasis on rite and very little on repentance and discipleship. I believe that regeneration occurs when the Holy Spirit enables a person to come to active, personal faith in Jesus Christ, along with genuine repentance for sin.
All of this has led us into new doctrines of the Church itself – our ecclesiology has become quite radically changed, and this has been perhaps most noticeable in the last fifteen years. Since we have diluted our doctrines so that they really don’t matter much, and our confidence in the holy scriptures has diminished to the point that Episcopalians just don’t do serious Bible study anymore (only light devotional Bible discussion now), the Church has found it necessary to elevate the Canons (laws) of the Church and the power of the bishops in order to maintain order and hold things together. The dysfunction in our House of Bishops is appalling and the power-grabbing, alarming, in many instances in various dioceses.
These five factors have been eating away at Episcopalianism for a long time and many have exited ECUSA already , but thus far most have stayed together. The current crisis over same-sex relationships has caught people’s attention, however, and begun to lead to greater division, not because this one ethical issue is so important, but rather because it has become the blatant illustration of what happens when a church breaks loose from its biblical and orthodox foundations. That our denomination has elected to its highest position of leadership one whose lifestyle is in open, proud rebellion against, not only the Old and New Testament teaching, but also 2,000 years of church doctrine, is dramatic evidence of the doctrinal changes that have gradually re-shaped our denomination. Convinced orthodox Christians can no longer pretend that Episcopalianism is the same thing as historic Anglicanism. It is interesting that the youngest members of the Anglican Church (the Global South Anglicans) have seen this the most clearly and spoken out the most loudly against the heresies of the North (us).
For years I have believed that renewal of the Episcopal Church was not only possible but worth working towards. That is the way we viewed our role within the broader church. The Falls Church has hoped to be a lighthouse of renewal and a model of orthodox Anglican faith but I have changed my mind. Certainly renewal is always possible with God, but all the signs I see now lead me to believe that ECUSA is inevitably headed away from historic biblical faith. We are now a radically liberal Protestant church with tinges of Catholic – ceremonial, hierarchically-dominated, and pathetically shrinking numerically week by week. Yes, there are still exceptions to this, but the exceptions are rarer and rarer.
I do not have a clear sense of what might a trigger a TFC decision to leave the denomination. Our own Bishop allows us to be who Christ has called us to be, and tells us that the rest of the Diocese and denomination needs us. We are under no pressure to embrace or teach or give financial support to practices or people or programs that in good conscience we feel we cannot support. Still, many, many dioceses are not so generous and open as Virginia. General Convention this June could present us with worse developments, and the pressure from the Global South to break away is increasing. Many of us simply do not feel at home in ECUSA anymore. I dream of an Anglican Church in North America that is truly biblically centered, mission-focused, evangelistically on fire, doctrinally sound, led by wise, passionate godly leaders – a church that will offer confused 21st century post moderns a real faith, a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ, and community in which the healing, powerful, and sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit is being celebrated in worship and fellowship day by day.
–The Rev. John Yates is rector of Falls Church (Episcopal) in Falls Church, Virginia
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. God is ready and waiting to welcome all that don't feel at home in a denomination into His family.
You have been the victim of a home invasion. The criminals are highly organized and have carefully planned their theft.
"Many of us simply do not feel at home in ECUSA anymore"
That is because "HOME" is on the other side of the Tiber.
God Bless the Anglicans who really believe the word of God.
Yes, God bless them. They have fought well, against tremendous odds. Satan's sweet whispers truly tickle the ears of those willing to listen.
People who "don't really believe it's necessary for people to commit their lives to Christ", almost invariably haven't done it themselves.
he, he!
That was a breathe of fresh air.
Can you identify the happy couple?
Some horror-show Queer Mafia bishop and his girlfriend.
P.S. Leave them pictures at home please.
Is it an ECUSA Bishop?
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