I could make a nasty comment -- but won't. There are faithful there still, such as the Diocese of San Joaquin.
"evangelism"-To riddle the nation with queer bishops.
I've heard all this tripe before. ECUSA must be "inclusive", "relevant", and be aggressive in "outreach". Meanwhile, it's a dying secular-humanist institution that has severed all connections to orthodox Christianity.
Ironically, the post inadvertently reveals the problem: women: who according to two millenia of catholic tradition, can NOT be "ordained" to Holy Orders. Many people think that the "consecration" of the gay and divorced Gene Robinson is the cause of ECUSA's rapid decline. NO! In fact, the decline escalated dramatically in 1976 with the invalid and non-canonical "ordination" of those females. To be sure, the Robinson debacle made headlines because of its sensational and notorious nature.
But, in reality, ECUSA's decline began decades ago. In 1969 ECUSA had 3.5 million active communicants. Now it has 2.4 million and declining daily and precipitously. So - in terms of absolute numbers and relative to population growth ECUSA is a dying, apostate church.
There are a multitude of other problems - hard left politics, to cite only one - but ECUSA is no longer a serious and viable player in American religion.
I can't elaborate on it now but if any would like some first-hand, INSIDE experience with ECUSA, contact me via private post.
"The 2.4 million member Episcopal Church..."
PROVE IT! In 2003, I searched for independent sources that would confirm this number. That was 3 years & another computer ago, so I no longer have the sources to cite, but I do remember that I found several sources that pegged the membership in 2003 anywhere from a low of 950,000 to a high of 1.6 million. Knowing that the reputation of the Barna research group was widely respected, I checked to see what their data was. I found out that the ECUSA was one of the few denominations that did not regularly report its numbers for independent review. However, coincidental to that time, George Barna was interviewed & asked to give some background data on the ECUSA to supplement the story on the consecration of V. Gene Robinson. As I recall, Barna suggested that the estimated membership of the ECUSA was approx. 1.3 million, but that only 650,000 attended church "regularly," which was defined as "at least monthly." I wondered at the time how such a discrepancy could be accounted for.
In the months that followed, I was working to contact the members of two nearby ECUSA parishes to announce the start-up of a new Anglican Church in the area & to extend a personal invitation to visit. I was working from the CURRENT directories of both parishes & found that nearly 1/2 of the members listed were: a) dead; b) moved away; c) attending other non-ECUSA churches; AND most were not recent departures. I remember one, in particular, was a woman who'd been dead over 4 years! A number of the folks who were attending other churches actually told me that they had notified their old parish that they were leaving & had asked that their names be removed from the membership roster & mailing list. Most were surprised to learn that they were still listed as members.
Shortly after that, I remember reading a couple of Freeper's postings saying that they had left ECUSA in the wake of Robinson's election & had made NUMEROUS unsucessful requests that their names be stricken from the membership at their former parishes. Whether they ever were, I don't know. I had a similar experience. Having formally withdrawn my membership in July 2003, my old parish continued to carry my name in the 2004 roster & I continued to receive the Diocesan newsletter until sometime in 2005.
Based on my research & experience, ECUSA is grossly overstating its membership at 2.4 million. It's just a guess, but I'd say a more accurate number may be about 1/2 that (1.2 million) & probably no more than 2/3 attend church regularly. If that's accurate, then the ECUSA is really nothing more than a wart on the behind of the 77 million strong Anglican Communion - & a classic example of the tail trying to wag the dog.
As witty fellow puts it: the ECUSA is like the mouse with an erection, floating down the river on his back & hollaring "RAISE THE BRIDGE!"