Posted on 06/10/2005 5:00:43 PM PDT by sionnsar
Why are we getting thrown out of the Anglican Communion?
It is a night to remember. We celebrate ours as the most advanced of cultures. We speed across time as through uncharted waters. But it is dark, and the air of the Anglican Communion is chilled. We are the Titanic. Only 100 feet ahead is the twin-peaked iceberg – General Convention 2006 and Lambeth 2008.
In charity, may I tell you why we’re getting thrown out of the Anglican Communion, so long our home? The framework of love and truth that is that Communion requires our expulsion.
In America, someone experiences a same sex attraction. The cultural elite of our society would make that a defining characteristic of that person, labeling them gay or lesbian.
Dare we, as Christians, think outside that box? Could it be that that feeling of same sex attraction is NOT the revelation of one’s identity, but a symptom of something deeper, something that needs healing?
The Word of God written enables us to think outside the box of our culture! The Word of God tells us that people can be healed in Christ. We are getting thrown out of the Anglican Communion because we leave people with same sex attractions in the box this culture has placed them. And worse, by same sex union blessing, we are nailing a lid on that box, cutting them off from the Good News that God heals sexual brokenness. Could exclusion get any worse than that? How can priests bless what the Word of God condemns? Of these ceremonies, the Windsor Report, on Page 56, Paragraph 143, says they are NOT a “legitimate application of the Christian faith as the churches of the Anglican Communion have received it.” Did you hear that? It’s not the Christian faith. That’s why we’re getting thrown out of the Anglican Communion.
When will our pastoral care be based on both love and truth? Scripture and science agree. Sexual orientation is a changeable condition. Have you heard about the Columbia University professor’s study published just 2 years ago? Dr. Robert L. Spitzer, himself a gay rights activist (he led the fight to remove homosexuality from DSM-IV in the early 1970’s) thought that sexual orientation could not be changed. His study changed his mind.[1] When will our pastoral care reflect that fact? Did you know that Masters & Johnson, the famed sex researchers of the ’60’s & ’70’s, developed a two week therapy (7-days-a-week for 2 weeks) that changes sexual orientation permanently in 2 out of 3 cases?[2] When will our pastoral care reflect that fact? Instead, we abandon gays and lesbians to the prison of homosexual feelings. That’s why we’re getting thrown out of the Anglican Communion.
What happens when we do get thrown out? That is just the beginning. There will ensue the greatest legal battle in American church history – lawyers salivate over this stuff. Our national church constitution states that we are “constituent members” of the Anglican Communion. “Constituent” means necessary. It’s necessary for us to be members of the Anglican Communion. If you get nothing else, get this point: If we’re not Anglican, we’re not Episcopalian. Anglicanism is not a self-made philosophy. It’s a Communion. If you’re not in the Communion, you’re not Anglican. And, by our constitution, if you’re not Anglican, you’re not Episcopalian. It’s like when you’re vacuuming. If you go too far, you pull the plug out of the wall, and the whole operation comes to a halt. We’ve gone too far. The whole operation is about to end.
Who will have authority in this church after the break? The faithful remnant. Just as in the days of Elijah and Jezebel, a faithful remnant remains. The faithful remnant is those dioceses, parishes, and clergy in the Anglican Communion Network. They alone will be the legitimate Episcopalians who meet the constitutional requirement for Communion with Canterbury. When that link breaks, we hit the iceberg that will sink this ship.
Finally, I want to let you in on the secret. Our problem is not homosexuality. It’s only the precipitating issue. We owe a deep apology to every homosexual for the pain they feel right now. It’s yet another victimization. To every person with same sex attractions, let me say this. I humbly apologize, and ask your forgiveness. You’re not the problem. The underlying problem, the real issue that is tearing us apart is this: the primacy and reliability of Scripture. “I do believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God.” – that is part of the ordination oath required in writing from every bishop, priest and deacon.[3] The dirty little secret of our church is this: Too many clergy really believe that the bible is the written word of man – and not the Word of God written. At bottom, that’s why we’re getting thrown out of the Anglican Communion.
Hear this Scripture as the Word of God. I refer to Jesus’ encounter with the rich young man (Mark 10:17-22). It’s a paradigm for his ministry to gays and lesbians. Remember that event? A young man comes up to Jesus and asks what he must do to inherit eternal life? Jesus lists the commandments. (Notice: the moral commandments of the Old Testament still apply in the New.[4]) The man replies that he has done all these things since his youth. Then Jesus looked at the young man, and loved him; and said: Just one thing is lacking. Sell all you have, give it to the poor, and follow me. Then the man looked sad because he had a lot of possessions.
To every person with same sex attraction, I say: Jesus loves you. He sees your gifts, and they are abundant. Just one thing is lacking. Place your sexuality under the Lordship of Christ. That command may make you sad, because you’re carrying a lot of sexual baggage. We all have baggage. Please, don’t turn away. Rely on the promise of the Word of God. In 1 John 1:9, it says God will forgive our sins AND cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That’s the message of Jesus to gays. It ought to be the message of our church.
–This article is based on an address to the Windsor Report Workshop of the Convention of the Diocese of New Jersey by the Rev. Peter T. Manzo, J.D. M.B.A., Rector, St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, Cherry Hill NJ on March 5, 2005. Fr. Manzo is a graduate of Georgetown University, Columbia University Graduate School of Business, and the Cornell Law School. His Anglican studies were at the General Theological Seminary in New York City.
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. 1 Robert L. Spitzer, “Can Some Gay Men and Lesbians Change Their Sexual Orientation? 200 Participants Reporting a Change from Homosexual to Heterosexual Orientation,” Archives of Sexual Behavior 32 (2003): 403-17.
2 William Masters & Virginia Johnson, Homosexuality in Perspective, 1979.
3 Book of Common Prayer, pp. 513, 526, 538.
4 Book of Common Prayer, p. 869 (Article VII).
Knd of sums it all up rather well, dontcha think?
Pretty much, at least from the "in-ECUSA" part.
Place your sexuality under the Lordship of Christ.
What more is there to say?
<< Knd of sums it all up rather well, dontcha think?
Place your sexuality under the Lordship of Christ.
What more is there to say? >>
Only, "Wow!"
Amen.
Blessings -- Brian
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