Posted on 09/11/2007 9:23:52 AM PDT by sionnsar
Christians often describe their faith journey as a spiritual walk.
On Sunday, a West Chicago congregation took a giant step in faith -- splitting from their denomination, the 2.2-million-member Episcopal Church.
Nearly 100 people turned out for the final service at the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection. Afterward, they processed with crosses, candles and an altar down the street to their new worship space.
A sign greeted them: "Resurrection Anglican Church. Welcome home." The congregation is now under the auspices of the Anglican Church of Uganda.
The Episcopal Diocese of Chicago retains ownership of the church building the congregation had been using.
Addi Moore, 52, of Naperville said the decision to leave the Episcopal Church was decades in the making. The denomination had drifted from the historic Christian faith, she said. Treasured stories from Scripture had been called into question, from the virgin birth to the resurrection.
Then, four years ago, a gay bishop was ordained in New Hampshire.
Now, a lesbian priest is on the slate of bishop candidates in the Chicago Diocese.
"It's sad to leave, but God is going to do amazing things with us," Moore said. "He's just going to blow our socks off."
The 90-minute worship was a joyous, upbeat celebration with guitars, tambourines and drums. Children waved colorful flags, while worshippers sang with their hands outstretched toward the heavens.
In his sermon, the Rev. George Koch called the split "a gentle leaving." He said the congregation modeled their faith by handling the situation with prayer instead of strife.
"We have persisted in being love to the Diocese of Chicago and the bishop of Chicago, and they responded in kind," he said.
The Rev. Scott Hayashi, a diocesan representative, read a letter from Bishop William Persell, who thanked the congregation for carrying out its decision "with grace and integrity."
"We will continue to hold you in our prayers," the letter said.
Afterward, Hayashi and Koch hugged.
Resurrection is a young, multi-racial congregation where hugs flow as easily as peals of laughter. Dress is casual, worship is informal. Often, members rest a hand on a neighbor's shoulder when in prayer.
"We're a close family," said Catherine Clark, 66, of Batavia. "Anyone can come here -- black, white, gay, straight -- and be loved."
Lynne Bowman, 59, a lifelong Episcopalian from Barrington, called the move bittersweet.
"We have tried to allow the love of God to be part of everything," she said. "But it's still painful."
The new worship space was a quarter mile walk from the church. As the worshippers processed, a guitarist strummed, while others yelled Nigerian warrior cries.
Longtime members said leaving the Episcopal Church was tough but that the walk of faith is never easy.
Younger members such as 24-year-old Chris Lyon of Carol Stream said it wasn't a big deal.
"The church isn't four walls, but the people," Lyon said. "Next week, it'll be the same people, just different walls."
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams.
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Speak the truth in love. Eph 4:15
Another empty shell for the TEC.
The church in East Haven Connecticut just announced it is leaving its building to go on its own.
Based on the photograph, it’s possible in this particular case that the parishioners may not be losing too much in terms of the previous church building (but maybe it’s just a bad angle!)
They certainly are collecting a lot of empty churches.
Therein is the root of the problem. TEC is no longer a Christian church.
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it." (Mark 8:34-35, NIV)
Perhaps the Episcopals can sell empty buildings to Presbyterians who have left the PCUSA, and the PCUSA can sell buildings to Anglican congregations.
Reminds me of the old "Hotel on Baltic Avenue" ploy from Monopoly.
What is amusing about this is the older Episcopal parishes that are leaving are leaving buildings that are ancient and in need of expensive repairs after years of neglect due to dwindling congregations.
He gave them the desires of their hearts and brought leanness to their pocketbooks (or something like that).
Hm. If we keep growing we might need a new building. No place to build, and the parking lot is already overflowing.
Any nearby office parks or shopping centers you can contract with and run shuttle buses? It isn't cheap, but it is one approach. Church planting in another possibility.
We are also located in an area where property is priced by the square foot, so I understand the problem.
Too many worshipers is a nice problem to have, however.
North would probably be halfway between us and beelzepug, south would be handy for our postulant.
There is a shopping center a mile or so away, so we could do that.
Ah yes. beelzepug. He and I have exchanged words on a zoning thread. Don’t recall having run across him on the religion board.
I don’t mean this to be rude, but what is the point of calling yourself “Anglican” when the Church of England is leading the march to paganism? I would think that Christians would want to emphasize that they are non-Anglican.
It’s not a bad angle—it’s a beautiful picture. The church building was built in 1964 near the site of an old mill, and was built kind of to resemble an old mill. It’s incredibly beautiful, but not easy to expand. Since it was built much of the land was declared flood plain, so.....
It was hard to walk away. It was exhilarating to walk away. It was a super picture-perfect day. I wish they had taken pictures of the altar—with two poles—being carried like the ark. We didn’t tell the press, but they found out anyway.
The new interim quarters are super, and almost double in size. Best of all, it’s all new! I can hardly wait for next Sunday. Come and join us if you’re in the area.
“He and I have exchanged words on a zoning thread...”
Oh, sometimes I do sound off but I bear no one a grudge. I was a little torqued about being told I should stay in WA and let the democrats take care of me. The stolen 2004 governor’s election still stings a lot.
And incidentally, I’ve never had an unpleasant stay in Texas. Texans are some of the most gracious folks I’ve ever met.
I try to keep it nice on the Anglican threads. Calvinists and Catholics exchange pleasantries here.
It's just that they're in Africa, Asia, and the Southern Cone.
The apostate ECUSA is a minuscule part of the worldwide church -- and the English church is even smaller. It's the tail wagging the dog.
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