Posted on 06/21/2006 5:08:05 PM PDT by pissant
The Episcopalians are in disarray as their primate shows her feminist credentials
THE Episcopal Church in America descended into chaos last night after leading bishops on both the liberal and conservative wings dissassociated themselves from a last-gasp effort to avert a schism with the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Just hours after its newly elected woman head preached a sermon in praise of our mother Jesus, the Episcopal Church agreed to exercise restraint in appointing any more gay bishops after a tense day of debate and argument.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, welcomed the resolution with gratitude and what appeared to be relief, but he also made clear his reservations.
He welcomed the exceptional seriousness with which the Episcopal Church had treated the calls for it to repent and to impose moratoriums on same-sex blessings and the consecration of any more gay bishops. He said that actions by bishops and laity of the Episcopal Church yesterday showed how strong is their concern to seek reconciliation and conversation with the rest of the Communion.
But he continued: It is not yet clear how far the resolutions passed this week and today represent the adoption by the Episcopal Church of all the proposals set out in the Windsor report. The wider Communion will therefore need to reflect carefully on the significance of what has been decided before we respond more fully.
But this fragile consensus was immediately shattered by leading bishops on both sides.
Thirty liberal bishops issued a statement of dissent, saying that they could not abide by the new resolution. Bishop John Chane of Washington, a prominent church liberal who officiates at the National Cathedral in American capital, said that he would not agree to block the ordination of any gay bishop. I will defy the resolution by consenting after prayer and careful consideration to any person duly elected by a diocese in this church, he said.
On the other side, five conservative bishops accused the General Convention of misleading the rest of the Communion by giving a false perception that they intend actually to comply with the recommendations of the Windsor Report. They continued: We therefore disassociate ourselves from those acts of this Convention that do not fully comply with the Windsor Report.
They said that they repudiated the actions of the convention and committed themselves to providing pastoral care to worshippers and parishes on the orthodox wing, so placing themselves also in potential breach of Windsor because this would entail crossing diocesan and parochial boundaries.
The resolution was agreed after panicked bishops summoned the rare joint session of the whole Church at its three-yearly convention. The session was held the day after the 800-strong House of Deputies resoundingly rejected the Anglican hierarchys demand for a moratorium on the consecration of gay bishops.
Delegates, many wearing pink Its a girl badges in celebration of the Right Rev Katharine Schoris election as the new presiding bishop, were warned by the current primate of the Episcopal Church, Frank Griswold, that if they did not at least make an attempt to comply with demands for a moratorium on the consecration of any more gay bishops, they would risk exclusion from key bodies of the Anglican Church.
A proposal put forward by Bishop Griswold committing the Church to exercise restraint by not consenting to the consecration of any candidate for the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider Church and will lead to further strains sailed through the 300-member House of Bishops on a show of hands and was approved 75-34 by clergy delegations and 72-32 by lay delegations in the House of Deputies.
Earlier, at the morning Eucharist at the convention in Columbus, Ohio, Dr Schori signalled her feminist credentials in a sermon that drew on the writings of the 14th-century Julian of Norwich. She said: Mother Jesus gives birth to a new creation and you and I are His children. If were going to keep on growing into Christ images for the world around us, were going to have to give up fear.
Liberals in Britain and America defended her sermon as being in a long tradition of writings by women theologians that use the metaphor of Jesus as mother.
Final nail in the Anglican coffin?
Nothing seems to do it. When the last of their churches has been turned into a brothel, they will still be ordaining the whores.
Here we can witness the collapse of a denomination due to their feminazization and gaynazization of their creed. Take heed lest it happen to your denomination. These guys are better off starting from scratch.....
They can always merge with the Unitarians.
The Anglicans, including The Anglican Mission in America, are hanging in there. It's the Episcopalians that keep straying from the fold.
I thought they were the same church.
This is absolutely bizarre.
Nominally they are, but practically there is -- and there should rightfully be -- a split between the Bible-confessing branch and the First Existential Church of the Warm Fuzzy (i.e., Episcopalians).
She looks bizarre.
Reservations? If all you have is reservations then baby move over and call the whole thing dead. You have no more to offer than they do.
No worries, I think the Presbyterians are right on your heels..
It looks like she's following a new ECUSA tradition.
5-18-06 'Pray to Mother Jesus' says ECUSA
I think people like this are responsible for alot of new Roman Catholic converts.
They are series about this, it appears.
Those two denominations' summer conferences seem to be in a race to see who's fastest in jettisoning foundational tenets of the Christian faith.
And even the Methodist, of all people, have become sickly liberal bastions in many parts of the country.
Something similar was said in Mass a few years ago by a female priest and it was a shock, but then again I still miss the services following the 1928 Book of Common Prayer. There was no Rite I or Rite II, it was Holy Eucharist or it was Morning Prayer.
And whatever happened to catechism?! :-)
I think they should do God a favor a tell people they're atheists.
Female priests and preachers don't work for me. LOL
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.