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Posted on 02/23/2009 9:27:53 AM PST by CedarDave
As bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande, the Rev. Jeffrey Steenson came down on the conservative side of many issues.
He opposed the election of the first openly gay bishop, and he did not allow the blessing of same-sex unions in his diocese.
Steenson said those conflicts made it impossible for him to pursue his ultimate goal of helping the Anglican Communion unite with the Roman Catholic Church.
On Saturday, both Catholics and Episcopalians celebrated Steenson's ordination as a Roman Catholic priest. Steenson, a married father of three, said he is the first sitting Episcopal bishop since 1852 to resign to become a Roman Catholic.
"Jeffrey and I have been in conversation for a number of years," Archbishop Michael Sheehan told several hundred who attended the ordination ceremony at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Rio Rancho.
"Of course, I have to say, that he has the greatest respect for his Episcopal and theological roots."
Steenson served as bishop of the Rio Grande diocese from 2004 to 2007 at a divisive time for Episcopalians, both in New Mexico and nationally.
~~snip~~
Steenson said his decision to choose Catholicism while serving as a sitting Episcopal bishop was "extremely difficult."
"I would say it was an agonizing decision, because of the pastoral responsibilities I think I had," he said.
But the "democratic" nature of the Episcopal Church led him to sever ties with the protestant denomination, he said.
"The Episcopal Church is purely a democratic organization," Steenson said. "It governs itself democratically, and it doesn't have to answer to anyone for the decisions it makes. I just felt that I didn't believe in that view of the church."
(Excerpt) Read more at abqjournal.com ...
I’m glad to hear of his decision. But the Episcopal Church is anything but democratic. Oligarchic would be more accurate. I’m sure he was just trying to be nice as he departs, but in the interest of accuracy . . .
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The Good Lord Taketh (Father Richard John Neuhaus) and the Good Lord Giveth (the Rev. Father Jeffrey Steenson). Blessed be the Name of the Lord.
baruch haba beshem adonai ~~~ Blessed be Name of the Lord.
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Actually, in many ways the governance of the Episcopal Church falls somewhere between the US Constitution and the Articles of Confederation. Individual dioceses enjoy a great deal of latitude in their operations ... there is very little in the way of central control within the Episcopal Church. Within each diocese, however, the bishop does exert a great deal of control over how things operate; he does not, however, enjoy unlimited power; instead, he is bound to operate within a somewhat "republican" system.
The Diocesan and National Constitutions and Canons are written and approved in the context of the annual Diocesan Conventions, and by the national General Convention, which occurs every three years.
These operate very similar to the operation of the US House and Senate. Perhaps Commons and Lords is a better description of the differentiation -- at the Diocesan level, the representation is divided between lay and clergy; and at the General Convention there are the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops. Aside from the criteria for membership, however, the operation is more along the lines of the American political system.
The weakness of this system is that the theological direction of the church is subject to exactly the same kinds of political manipulation that we can recognize in secular politics. As in secular politics, so too with the Episcopal Church: those who control the bureaucracy and who go to the meetings, are those who control the agenda. Those who merely show up to vote, have generally lost before they even knew something was afoot.
At both the national and diocesan level, the bureaucracy of the Episcopal Church (and other mainstream denominations) tends to be controlled by those who are on the political left. It is no accident that agendas of the mainstream denominations are often indistinguishable from those of the secular political left. It all comes straight out of Saul Alinksy.
The power structure of the Roman Catholic Church is much more concentrated in its bishops, archbishops, etc. Democratic processes and bureaucratic control are much less effective in that environment -- the hierachy is empowered to say "no," without having to deal with the fuss and bother of conventions, legislation, and the like. The RC approach also has its weaknesses, of course -- when power is concentrated, it can be abused.
I think Steenson's response is representative of a fairly widespread view within the Anglican Communion these days -- that most or all of the current turmoil could have been avoided had there been some one, orthodox, person who was empowered to slap down those provinces and dioceses that departed from the traditional teachings of the church.
On the other hand, that does not address the real problem, which is not a lack of hierarchy, but rather a loss of focus on our purpose and role as a Church.
We conservatives/traditionalists are probably more to blame than anyone for the present state of the church. Just as in secular politics, we became complacent in our theology, failed to address real injustices, and also failed to account for the fact that people's views of the world have changed over time. We're the ones who created and propagated the weaknesses; the revisionists are the ones who have figured out how to take advantage of our errors.
Moreover, we are often guilty of surrendering rather than to appear "mean;" and conversely when we do fight, our actions and words are frequently so ugly that we're usually our own worst enemies.
There's no easy answer -- and I have to say that, although it was no doubt a very difficult decision personally, I think Bp. Steenson is just taking the easy way out.
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I do not think it is at all appropriate to blame the traditionalists within the Episcopal Church for what has happened in the last 30 (100) years. We fought tooth and nail back in the 80s, when we were members of that church, but the conservatives were outnumbered even then. Feisty we were, though. How about the Tractarians earlier on? They fought diligently, too, for traditional values. And lost.
I think the liberals/ gay agenda/ social gospel folks had a plan and they rammed it through intentionally and with great forethought and cunning. Saul Alinsky applied to church matters, probably. Theology by committee does not work. Without a leader and a core of set values, there is no center to hold.
Welcome to this good priest who understood. We have also found a solid theology which does not waiver in the Catholic Church.
The leftie infiltraters are also trying to do the same thing to the Catholic Church. They also appear to be getting more vicious of late. Since Obama came into being everything appears to be changing more rapidly or is it just me....
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