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Pennsylvania Episcopal church considers future after Anglican provision announcement
cna ^ | October 27, 2009

Posted on 10/27/2009 1:07:10 PM PDT by NYer

Philadelphia, Pa., Oct 27, 2009 / 04:49 am (CNA).- A Pennsylvania Episcopal church which joyously greeted the announcement of a provision to assist Anglicans who wish to become Catholic could be among the first to take advantage of the church structure put forward by Pope Benedict XVI.

The Church of the Good Shepherd, an Episcopalian parish in the Philadelphia Maine Line suburbs, is an “Anglo-Catholic” parish in the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. According to the Rosemont Journal, its liturgy is celebrated in the “high church” style reminiscent of traditional Catholic churches: with incense, elaborate vestments, and a choir that may sing in Latin.

The parish has objected to recent changes in the denomination, such as its allowing women and homosexuals to become priests and bishops.

Bishop David L. Moyer, who leads the Church of the Good Shepherd, said that for two years the parish had been praying daily for the Pope’s action towards Anglicans.

“When I heard the news I was speechless, then the joy came and the tears,” he told the Rosemont Journal.

Following a Mass devoted to church unity, Rev. Aaron R. Bayles, the assistant pastor, reported that the majority of parishioners would be “on board” with the development.

He said he himself was exultant when he heard the news because he had always hoped for the unification of Anglican, Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Christianity. The new provision for Anglicans may be “a step in that direction,” he commented.

For 17 years the parish has refused to allow the local Episcopal bishop to come for a pastoral visit or confirmation. It also stopped paying its annual financial assessment to the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. The diocese sued to take over the Church of the Good Shepherd’s building in 2009. It is a replica of a 14th-century English country parish that was built in 1894. The property is estimated at $7 million in value.

Bishop Moyer was made a bishop in the Traditional Anglican Communion and was one of its 38 bishops to sign an October 2007 petition asking Pope Benedict XVI for an arrangement that would unite Anglicans with the Catholic Church.

He explained that he had been defrocked for disobedience to Episcopal Bishop Charles E. Bennison, but he remained in place.

The Church of the Good Shepherd never formally left the Episcopal Church, in part because it did not want to be evicted from its property. Bishop Moyer, who lives in a rectory on the church’s property, said he hoped to resolve the “legal quagmire” over the property before the church decides to join the Catholic Church.

While the Anglican provision will allow married Anglican priests, it would not allow married bishops. Bishop Moyers is the father of three and is waiting to hear what his status could be under the proposal.

He told the Rosemont Journal that some of his parish’s 400 members would choose to leave rather than become Catholic. Some are former Catholics who may not want to go back, while others remain loyal to the Episcopal Church.


TOPICS: Catholic; Current Events; Mainline Protestant; Ministry/Outreach
KEYWORDS: anglican; ecusa; episcopal; pa; religiousleft; schism
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1 posted on 10/27/2009 1:07:12 PM PDT by NYer
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To: Salvation; narses; SMEDLEYBUTLER; redhead; Notwithstanding; nickcarraway; Romulus; ...
It is a replica of a 14th-century English country parish that was built in 1894. The property is estimated at $7 million in value.


2 posted on 10/27/2009 1:09:32 PM PDT by NYer ( "One Who Prays Is Not Afraid; One Who Prays Is Never Alone"- Benedict XVI)
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To: All
Here is a link to the parish web site:

Church of the Good Shepherd

3 posted on 10/27/2009 1:12:42 PM PDT by NYer ( "One Who Prays Is Not Afraid; One Who Prays Is Never Alone"- Benedict XVI)
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To: NYer
It is ashame that these buildings so beloved of the faithful will be sacrificed to the dens of thieves and perverts and lawyers who have seized control of the former ECUSA. After the congregations dwindle and fold, their beautiful buildings will probably be remodeled into homosexual bars and bathhouses.
4 posted on 10/27/2009 1:24:41 PM PDT by hinckley buzzard (Truth--The liberal's Kryptonite)
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To: Dr. Eckleburg; HarleyD; P-Marlowe; Alex Murphy; topcat54

Well, they are already part of one heretical denomination, what difference does it make if they cross the Tiber to join another?


5 posted on 10/27/2009 1:25:34 PM PDT by Gamecock ("...Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles" and both to Americans.)
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To: Gamecock; Petronski; narses

What a wave of Christian Love you are, Gamecock!


6 posted on 10/27/2009 1:34:44 PM PDT by netmilsmom (Psalm 109:8 - Let his days be few; and let another take his office)
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To: NYer; informavoracious; larose; RJR_fan; Prospero; Conservative Vermont Vet; ...
Gamecock says:
Well, they are already part of one heretical denomination, what difference does it make if they cross the Tiber to join another?

7 posted on 10/27/2009 1:38:02 PM PDT by narses ("These are the days when the Christian is expected to praise every creed except his own.")
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To: netmilsmom

Yup.

If I weren’t concerned about the eternal destiny of those involved, on either side of the Tiber, I wouldn’t say a thing.

You may or may not be aware of the fact that Rome anathematized itself at Trent


8 posted on 10/27/2009 1:45:01 PM PDT by Gamecock ("...Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles" and both to Americans.)
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To: narses

Echo in here?


9 posted on 10/27/2009 1:45:40 PM PDT by Gamecock ("...Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles" and both to Americans.)
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To: narses

Narses,

Why do you dignify the comments?


10 posted on 10/27/2009 1:46:18 PM PDT by markomalley (Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus)
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To: hinckley buzzard
After the congregations dwindle and fold, their beautiful buildings will probably be remodeled into homosexual bars and bathhouses.

I doubt that. Rather, they will be turned into Mosques.

11 posted on 10/27/2009 1:50:15 PM PDT by stripes1776 ("That if gold rust, what shall iron do?" --Chaucer)
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To: markomalley

Illumination dignifies those with dignity. It also exposes that which hates the light.


12 posted on 10/27/2009 1:52:41 PM PDT by narses ("These are the days when the Christian is expected to praise every creed except his own.")
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To: Gamecock
You may or may not be aware of the fact that Rome anathematized itself at Trent

LOL! If you think that's the case, then in reality, it anathematized itself at Nicea.

13 posted on 10/27/2009 1:59:34 PM PDT by Pyro7480 ("If you know how not to pray, take Joseph as your master, and you will not go astray." - St. Teresa)
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To: Gamecock
You may or may not be aware of the fact that Rome anathematized itself at Trent

Thank God you're not talking about the Catholic Church.

14 posted on 10/27/2009 2:03:00 PM PDT by Petronski (In Germany they came first for the Communists, And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist...)
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To: Gamecock

>>If I weren’t concerned about the eternal destiny of those involved<<

*snicker*


15 posted on 10/27/2009 2:28:40 PM PDT by netmilsmom (Psalm 109:8 - Let his days be few; and let another take his office)
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To: Gamecock

***Well, they are already part of one heretical denomination, what difference does it make if they cross the Tiber to join another?***

Worried about that limo getting crowded or the goodies running out?


16 posted on 10/27/2009 4:13:29 PM PDT by MarkBsnr ( I would not believe in the Gospel if the authority of the Catholic Church did not move me to do so.)
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To: ahadams2; x_plus_one; bastantebueno55; Needham; sc70; jpr_fire2gold; Tennessee Nana; QBFimi; ...
Thanks to NYer for the ping.

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams.

FReepmail Huber or sionnsar if you want on or off this low-volume ping list.
This list is pinged by Huber and sionnsar.

Resource for Traditional Anglicans: http://trad-anglican.faithweb.com
Humor: The Anglican Blue

Speak the truth in love. Eph 4:15

17 posted on 10/27/2009 4:39:04 PM PDT by sionnsar (IranAzadi|5yst3m 0wn3d-it's N0t Y0ur5:SONY|Remember Neda Agha-Soltan|TV--it's NOT news you can trust)
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To: Gamecock; netmilsmom; narses
If I weren’t concerned about the eternal destiny of those involved, on either side of the Tiber, I wouldn’t say a thing.

There have been many threads posted on this topic over the span of the past week but you have singled out this particular parish on which to post your vitriolic comments. You are a reprobate, in the truest sense of the term. Your paltry attempt to rain on the joy of these fellow christians, speaks volumes about your own faith. St. Paul exhorted his fellow Christians to be joyful: “Rejoice always” (1 Thess. 5:16); “rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice” (Phil. 4:4).

18 posted on 10/27/2009 4:55:04 PM PDT by NYer ( "One Who Prays Is Not Afraid; One Who Prays Is Never Alone"- Benedict XVI)
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To: NYer; Gamecock
There have been many threads posted on this topic over the span of the past week but you have singled out this particular parish on which to post your vitriolic comments. You are a reprobate, in the truest sense of the term. Your paltry attempt to rain on the joy of these fellow christians, speaks volumes about your own faith.

Oh, the irony!

19 posted on 10/27/2009 5:05:01 PM PDT by Alex Murphy ("Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him" - Job 13:15)
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To: NYer; narses; Petronski

I have found that those who are the least secure in their faith do two things....

1. Belittle others
2. Scream how much they care about others who will be damned.

Isn’t it funny how the ones the “care” the most about another’s eternal destiny, act so much like the Nanny Staters and Progressives.

“We’re doing this for your own good”


20 posted on 10/27/2009 5:05:08 PM PDT by netmilsmom (Psalm 109:8 - Let his days be few; and let another take his office)
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