Good deal! Glad to see it. The Episcopals were warned this would happen if they departed from Christian teaching, but nominated a gay bishop anyway. So now the church is splintering. Toldja!!
As a conservative ELCA member I may now have a place to turn too after next year ELCA general assembly meeting. I expect the ELCA to walk the same dark path as the liberal Episcopal church is walking.
This is definitely good news and it is in progress. It will be refreshing to many of us.
I’ve been keeping up with this situation only tentatively in the past few years. I’m wondering if there is any chance this new body will gain official recognition from the C of E.
Is it possible that some provinces in the Anglican Communion might recognize this new body instead of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church in Canada? Makes for a very, very, interesting eccleisal situation in the Anglican Communion and, doubtlessly, will make for an interesing discussion at the next Lambeth Council....
-ccm
They should know better at Fox than call it “rival religion”. The text has it correct, “rival denomination”.
If you want accurate, conservative, divine liturgy, and historical doctrine without liberal compromise, join the Orthodox Church.
The Church's Unfoundation
The Anglican Communion
Was mightily distressed
When bishops of ECUSA
Their heresies expressed,
And in Convention showed not
Repentance or regret,
But chose to walk their own path,
Firm in their own ways set.
Political correctness
And chic diversity –
These are our church's hallmarks,
And quite our cup of tea.
We follow where the winds blow,
We are the church of NOW.
We're new Episcopalians
And trendier than thou.
Our gospel is inclusive.
(The other one's passé.)
We welcome all the sexes,
Transgendered, lesbigay.
And though we're loudly preaching
Our relevant good news,
We are a tad perplexed by
So many empty pews.
"To God alone be glory" -
This used to be our song.
With Katharine Jefferts Schori
It likely won't be long
Before we change our story
And sing another tune -
Not Father, Son and Spirit,
But Mother, Child and Womb.
Our church has no foundation
And Christ is not her Lord.
She is our new creation
By our own mighty word.
The Bible's too oppressive,
And morals leave us bored.
Who then is our salvation?
It's our own selves - adored
Yes, the rival religion is called Christianity.
Yes, the constitution for the new North American Province was released this evening.
Someone need to tell Fox and AP they are not starting a rival religion, but rescuing the old one from TEC and the ACC.
Not really new news, for those of us apart of these (previously separate little) groups which now form the APNA!
It was announced a few weeks ago that this meeting was to take place...
BUT, this really is GREAT NEWS!!! It is amazing too, that all the little groups (Fox didn’t mention) were able to get together and agree on this. You may have heard of “Anglican” mission churches underseen by African (or South American) bishops—made up of folks who separated from the Episcopal Church? There are something like 7 or 8 of such groups....but now, we are all parts of one denomination.
The numbers are (relatively) huge too. This brand new Province makes up 100,000 and the 200 year old Episcopal Church has around 700,000 now...down from a few million, just a few years ago.
PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW!!!
Just my own observation (for whatever it’s worth), but I can’t help but see women’s ordination as the proverbial “elephant in the room” in this situation.
To put it very simply, Truth (ya know, the immutable, capital-T kind) is unchanging and cannot contradict itself. Either women’s ordination is demonstrably provable from Scripture and Tradition and is divine will OR it is not part of the Christian faith. How is agreement on this issue somehow less important than the inherent Truthfulness of the Church’s teachings on human sexuality?
In other words, I can’t understand how this can be thrown in with “compromisable” issues. If one diocese is “in communion” with another diocese that permits women’s ordination, it is tacit approval of the practice IMHO. There’s no gray area there any more than there can be a gray area on the topic of human sexualality. In fact, the two issues are actually related on a mystical level.
Just my two cents....
Conservatives for a Rival Religion?????
NO, we left a heretical denomination to uphold the authority of Holy Scripture and to defend the faith which was handed to us thousands of years ago.
It is the Episcopal leadership that has formed a new progressive humanistic religion.
Misleading title.