I am WAY too young to die, at least by a thousand Free Republic cuts.
Briefly, I found that the Episcopal Church, while having all the trappings and behaviors of a body which truly believed that it was a valid Church and that God spoke to it through the members thereof, actually believed nothing at all. Conventions were run NOT to discern the will of God, but to enact an agenda. Canons and other legal entities were created with no expectation that they would be followed. A bishop (Spong) who was member of the "house of Bishops" which passed a moratorium on the ordination of practicing homosexuals could ignore the resolution and be acquitted in a trial. But the priests who presented charges because of The Bishop's acting against his own house's resolution would be penalized for 'behavior unbecoming'.
That's only one of I'd guess a dozen examples. The House of Bishops declares that the "Philadelphia 11", the first women to be "ordained" (irregularly) were NOT validly ordained, but then later decides to allow them to function as priests anyway.
It was all "pretend"!
So I asked myself, "How does one lose the faculty of will?" And the answer was,"By abusing it."
If one looks at the chaos and doctrinal confusion in the Pepsicola Church from the death of Henry VII on one sees an immediate decay of will.
SO I concluded, reluctantly at the time, the the decay of will began with choosing to separate the Church from communion with the Holy See.
Q.E.D.
The only thing good a sinner can do with his will is offer it to God, and even that offer is more of an "Indian gift" (no offense meant to anyone) than a real offer. One is finally reduced to pleading,"Lord, take my will before I snatch it back, and keep it secure from my sinfulness, PLEASE!"
At my pre-ordination retreat, an Anglican nun advised me to offer my will and "my" ministry to God every day.
I dare to conclude that finally He honored my offer.
And now, most of the time, I smell far worse than weeds. But everyday that I am NOT acting like a priest, I am making an offer of obedience. I really wanted to be a priest. All the stuff I do, with sheep and Law Enforcement and such, is just marking time.
Now I am vulnerable. But I AM armed. Choose carefully ;-)
Yes, the disintegration of the Anglican communion is painful to even watch. I can imagine the pain of living it. Thank you for sharing.
I'm quite sure you didn't intend to "diss" Henry VII, who was apparently a decent King. I'm sure you meant Henry VIII ... who was, IMO, a pig. With apologies to pigs.
As a Protestant, I disagree with the Catholic stance in many ways.
However, I greatly respect the reasoning behind why you left the Episcopal church.