Why is the Episcopal Church Near Collapse?

Prominent bishops are pulling out. Convention-goers were told headquarters had spent $18 million suing local congregations. Members are leaving at a record rate. This is no longer George Washington’s church – once the largest denomination in the colonies.

The lengthy article can be read at beliefnet.

And a snippet:

“On July 8, 2012, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori preached her brand of post-Christian religion while masquerading as a Christian bishop,” reported convention attendee Dr. Sarah Frances Ives.

“She mocked most of the crucial doctrines of the Christian faith, including the God of creation, the Incarnation, and the Trinity. She accomplishes this through her demeaning use of rhetoric. She taunts the Lord by the use of the name ‘Big Man’ and then points her finger at everyone listening and tells them that they have ‘missed the boat.’

“Jefferts Schori then proclaims that she has the answer for this. We all need the ‘act of crossing boundaries’ to become God after which our hands become a ‘sacrament of mission.’

“In this sermon, Jefferts Schori continued her mission of destroying the Christian faith through her rhetorical device of dismissive ridicule.

“Jefferts Schori leaves a wide wake of destruction behind with this sermon: the eternal triune God has been torn down, human beings are to boldly claim our place as God…

 

Bishopess Katharine Jefferts Schori Targets Conservative Remnant in the House of Bishops

Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori targets conservative remnant in the House of Bishops:

Fresh from charging the conservative South Carolina diocesan bishop Mark Lawrence with abandonment and attempting to take over his diocese, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schor turns her attention to the remnant of conservative bishops still in the Episcopal Church, charging them with fraud, financial misconduct and failing to inform on their fellow bishops  who held opinions on church order contrary to her own.

Note the names :

• The Rt Rev’d Peter H. Beckwith, Bishop of Springfield retired
• TheRt Rev’d Maurice M. Benitez. Bishop of Texas retired
• The Rt Rev’d John W. Howe, Bishop of Central Florida retired
• The Rt Rev’d Paul E. Lambert, Bishop Suffragan, Diocese of Dallas
• The Rt Rev’d William H. Love, Bishop of Albany
• The Rt Rev’d D. Bruce MacPherson, Bishop of Western Louisiana retired
• The Rt Rev’d Daniel H. Martins, Bishop of Springfield
• The Rt Rev’d Edward L. Salmon, Jr, Bishop of South Carolina retired
• The Rt Rev’d James M. Stanton, Bishop of Dallas.

The list reads like a Who’s Who of the primary leadership of conservative bishops over the last twenty years, in fact the remnant who courageously remained in the Episcopal Church.  They are being charged with violating:

Canon IV.3.1 (a) knowingly violating or attempting to violate, directly or through the acts of another person, the Constitution or Canons of the Church or of any Diocese; (b) failing without good cause to cooperate with any investigation or proceeding conducted under authority of this Title; or (c) intentionally and maliciously bringing a false accusation or knowingly providing false testimony or false evidence in any investigation or proceeding under this Title.

Canon 4: Of Standards of Conduct Sec. 1. In exercising his or her ministry, a Member of the Clergy shall: (c) abide by the promises and vows made when ordained; (e) safeguard the property and funds of the Church and Community; (f) report to the Intake Officer all matters which may constitute an Offense as defined in Canon IV.2 meeting the standards of Canon IV.3.3, except for matters disclosed to the Member of Clergy as confessor within the Rite of Reconciliation of a Penitent; (g) exercise his or her ministry in accordance with applicable provisions of the Constitution and Canons of the Church and of the Diocese, ecclesiastical licensure or commission and Community rule or bylaws; (h) refrain from: (6) conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation; or (8) any Conduct Unbecoming a Member of the Clergy. And possibly: IV.4.Sec.1(h)(2): holding and teaching publicly or privately, and advisedly, any Doctrine contrary to that held by the Church.

This action of charging these bishops with such severe violations comes after Bishop Schori herself faced a vote by the House of Deputies this summer to sell her headquarters and her home at 815 Second Avenue in New York City.  Later modified by the House of Bishops at General Convention, she is still facing directives from General Convention to restructure the Episcopal Church as it faces massive financial shortfalls and attendance drops from dioceses all over the country.

In addition, Bishop Schori has faced opposition to her budget proposals, causing the former House of Deputies President, Bonnie Anderson, to come armed with her own budget at a  meeting of the Executive Council of the Episcopal prior to General Convention.  The Executive Council was unable to agree on a budget and Bishop Schori showed up at General Convention and presented her own budget to the the triennial gathering in Indianapolis this past summer.

The crisis of restructuring the budget has split progressive coalitions that have long held a public face of unity while shepherding through innovations on marriage and ordination that has caused a severe “tearing of the fabric” in the worldwide Anglican Communion.  With that coalition alarmed by the possible implementation of a hierarchical structure in the reorganization, it is no wonder that she and her staff would take aim at those conservatives who also take the position that the Episcopal Church is not hierarchical in structure in a more Roman Catholic tradition, but rather consists of dioceses in a democratic General Convention.  She cannot attack her own constituency and it is doubtful at this juncture that her critics in the House of Deputies will be inclined to defend this list.

Her actions and attitudes in regards to her hierarchical view of the structure of the Episcopal Church has caused some longtime political allies to be openly critical of her leadership, with rifts becoming so deep that would cause the Presiding Bishop and the House of Deputies President to show up at an official meeting of the Episcopal Church with separate budgets.  The House of Deputies President later threw in the towel. Read more about her charges against those who have stood for a historic view of the Episcopal Church and who also exercised their freedom as Americans to sign an amicus curiae brief – an action that has caused this present Presiding Bishop to to take such actions that must cause the founders of the Episcopal Church, born in revolution, to turn over in their graves.

Read it all here.

Bleeding Christians

The two churches nearest to him, I have looked up in the office. Both have certain claims. At the first of these the Vicar is a man who has been so long engaged in watering down the faith to make it easier for supposedly incredulous and hard-headed congregation that it is now he who shocks his parishioners with his unbelief, not vice versa. He has undermined many a soul’s Christianity. His conduct of the services is also admirable. In order to spare the laity all “difficulties” he has deserted both the lectionary and the appointed psalms and now, without noticing it, revolves endlessly round the little treadmill of his fifteen favourite psalms and twenty favourite lessons. We are thus safe from the danger that any truth not already familiar to him and to his flock should over reach them through Scripture. But perhaps bur patient is not quite silly enough for this church – or not yet? At the other church we have Fr. Spike. The humans are often puzzled to understand the range of his opinions – why he is one day almost a Communist and the next not far from some kind of theocratic Fascism – one day a scholastic, and the next prepared to deny human reason altogether – one day immersed in politics, and, the day after, declaring that all states of the world are equally “under judgment”. We, of course, see the connecting link, which is Hatred. The man cannot bring himself to teach anything which is not calculated to mock, grieve, puzzle, or humiliate his parents and their friends. A sermon which such people would accept would be to him as insipid as a poem which they could scan. There is also a promising streak of dishonesty in him; we are teaching him to say “The teaching of the Church is” when he really means “I’m almost sure I read recently in Maritain or someone of that sort”. But I must warn you that he has one fatal defect: he really believes. And this may yet mar all.

CS Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

Christopher Johnson, a non-Catholic who takes up the cudgels so frequently for the Church that I have designated him Defender of the Faith, has a brilliant fisk at Midwest Conservative Journal detailing how upset some Episcopalians are at the Pope, because so many other Episcopalians are swimming the Tiber…

The modern Episcopal Church is hemorrhaging members because it has abandoned Christianity.  There is no great mystery about this.  Frankly, over the past few decades we have had more than a few people in the Roman Catholic Church, some holding large amounts of authority within the Church, who wished the Church would follow a similar path to extinction.  Fortunately, we Catholics have the Holy Spirit to make up for our blind guides who have so fecklessly attempted to destroy the Faith given to us by God while He walked among us.  We thus have no prideful attitude towards the former Episcopalians who join our ranks, but merely a humble thankfulness for the Good Shepherd who saves so many before the fall of night.

Read the whole piece here.

 

Episcopal to Catholic Converts

Transcript and video here.

 

Wellington’s New Anglican Bishop Consecrated: Barefoot

Dreadlocked and barefooted:

I’ve mentioned him before on the blog here.

PS – And another strange thing, half a dozen years ago, he wasn’t even an Anglican, let alone ordained.

 

Scandal, Still More…

Why is it when the words ‘scandal’ and ‘Anglican’ pop-up together in the news, you can be sure it’s your regular customers? (And don’t blame me, I don’t make the news.)

Membership in the Episcopal Church continues to slide amidst wrangling over gay bishops, women bishops, and purse-string scandals, the most recent debacle erupting in the high desert sands of New Mexico.

In Albuquerque the Cathedral Church of St. John was seen headed toward eventual bankruptcy as its members deserted to other less-ornate, smaller Episcopal churches. Then the cathedral accountant sounded an alarm. In effect, he accused the church leadership of complacency in the sloppy way the cathedral was run. Immediately the area’s bishop rushed to quash the bad mouthing with an apparent cover-up.

Membership had spiraled down, a decline proportionately similar to the national loss in recent decades. A 2010 national headcount revealed 1,951,907 defectors from what had been 3.6 million members, church records show. Membership in 2011 held at 2,006,343, down 2.48 percent, according to the National Council of Churches.

According to disciplinary records of both faiths, bishops for both the Episcopal and Roman Catholic churches in the United States do have a record of covering up scandals, at least temporarily. Of reported cases, Catholic bishops tend to hide sexual abuse. Episcopal bishops tend to offer a mixed bag, according to published cases.

This most recent attempt to hide wrong doing has come with the muted ferocity of a mountain thunderstorm in the peaceful valley of the Rio Grande, where the largest wildfires in New Mexico history have roared practically unabated for months.

Under a blanket of smoke and ashes, Bishop Michael L. Vono has spent months digging into allegations that the dean of his territorial cathedral misused Sunday collection money from parishioners for his personal enjoyment, including lots of expensive wine, which he was accused of imbibing to the extreme…

You can read more about this here. And then a little further on (and closer home):

… The back and forth of wrong-doing charges emerged in the midst of the on-going worldwide conflict among Episcopalians about gays, women bishops, and same-sex marriage. About 400,000 former parishioners have split to what’s called the Traditional Anglican Communion formed in 1991. Reuters reports only about 2,500 members in the United States; the rest are in India and African nations. But all is not peaceful on that front either, according to London-based The Guardian.

The former Archbishop of that same Traditional Anglican Communion, John Hepworth has been served papers alleging that he misappropriated church funds while he was the Archbishop in Australia. Hepworth had sought, in vain, acceptance into the Roman Catholic Church via the Pope’s invitation. Hepworth had applied for and been rejected for the Pope’s open offer to traditionalist Anglicans. At one time Hepworth had claimed that he had been raped by three Roman Catholic priests four decades ago. The accusation apparently didn’t sit well in Rome.

The Pope has not been “hands off” all traditionalist Anglicans, however, according to The Guardian. In addition to setting up ex-bishop Steenson in the United States to recruit disaffected Episcopalians, the Pope has, according to The Guardian, donated $250,000 to a similar effort in Great Britain. But that effort so far has yielded only 1,200 members, including 60 priests. The Guardian speculated that number may change when the Church of England welcomes women bishops. In the United States, the head of the Episcopal Church is a woman, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori. She’s on record as not wanting to discuss membership numbers; “I don’t play the numbers game,” she has said.

Meanwhile, quiet negotiations continue between the disaffected traditionalist Anglicans and the gay and women bishops supporters in the church, seeking a compromise…

On that sad note, it’s 23:39 so I’m off to bed… Do feel free to comment while I enjoy that naturally recurring state of suspended consciousness and inactivity, far far removed from all the confabulation.

 

New Anglican Bishop of Wellington: A Dreadlocked and Barefooted Priest

The Anglican Church needs to be ”dusted off” and it believes a dreadlocked, barefooted priest is the man to do it.

Justin Duckworth has been announced as the next Anglican Bishop of Wellington, replacing Bishop Tom Brown who recently retired.

The 44 year-old has been involved in christian work in Wellington since leaving school, although somewhat removed from the mainstream churches.

In his early 20s he began running a home for teenage women in Berhampore with his wife Jenny.

The couple then formed the group Urban Vision with other young christian activists and fifteen years later the group is made up of about 60 members running refuge houses in Wellington neighbourhoods.

Mr Duckworth and his wife also pioneered Ngatiawa, a contemporary monastery in the Reikorangi Valley that provides for strugglers, those seeking retreat, and those looking for a more meaningful lifestyle. Last year, 1100 visitors stayed.

The decision to appoint Mr Duckworth was somewhat unexpected but has been welcomed by Archbishop David Moxon who said he was confident his election would challenge and invigorate the church.

Mr Duckworth said the Anglican Church was struggling with change and transformation but had a fine legacy and huge potential.

”I think the Anglican Church is doing amazing stuff, and is a total treasure. But it’s a treasure that needs to be dusted off.

”At this point in our history we’re aging and I think we’re struggling to find our way. If I can help us find our way and help us engage with another generation, then I’ll be happy.”

Source

A formal announcement is here.

 

An Episcopal ‘Bishop’ Takes a Shot at Rome and Fleeing Anglicans

Writes John over at Ad Orientem:

It really is one of the more petty things I have seen written by a supposed member of the clergy.  I won’t excerpt or quote it.  If interested you can read it all here.

For those who have concluded that the Anglican Communion is a ship that has foundered and are looking for a new home, I am well aware of the temptation to think Rome is the only logical destination.  Nor will I disparage those who feel called to enter the Roman Church.

But for what it’s worth we Orthodox are also leaving the welcome mat out and the porch lite on…

 

Episcopal Church: Littering is like a Crucifixion

From the Creative Minority Report:

From what I understand Good Friday and Earth Day fall on the same day this year. Hooray! I, however, will not be giving Earth Day a moment’s thought after I write this post (unless I think of something demeaning and funny to say about it later.) On Good Friday I will likely pray and watch “The Passion of the Christ” on DVD, not meditate and watch “An Inconvenient Truth.”

But it seems that an office of the Episcopalian Church sees great significance in the confluence of the calendar and want everyone to remember that it’s Earth Day. They even go so far as to compare littering with a crucifixion. Yup.

The Daily Caller reports:

The Episcopal Church’s office of Economic and Environmental Affairs released a statement urging followers to stay mindful of global warming, recycling and reducing carbon dioxide emissions while celebrating the ancient Christian holiday in 2011.

“This year Earth Day falls within Holy Week, specifically on Good Friday, a profound coincidence,” said Mike Schut, a church spokesman. “To fully honor Earth Day, we need to reclaim the theology that knows Earth is ‘very good,’ is holy. When we fully recognize that, our actions just may begin to create a more sustainable, compassionate economy and way of life.”…

Schut continued: “On Good Friday, the day we mark the crucifixion of Christ, God in the flesh, might we suggest that when Earth is degraded, when species go extinct, that another part of God’s body experiences yet another sort of crucifixion — that another way of seeing and experiencing God is diminished?”

The church set up a website for the celebration of Earth Day, complete with links to resources on how to best get involved on the extra special day.

Seriously? So littering is like a crucifixion? I think it’s about time someone took away the fax machine from the Episcopal Church’s office of Economic and Environmental Affairs.

Or maybe we could all spend Good Friday journaling about how the Risen Lord is just really a great step in recycling?

Historic Lesbian Marriage of 'Top Clergy' of the Episcopal Church

Just keep reminding yourself: Anglicanorum Coetibus,  Anglicanorum Coetibus…

The historic marriage of Episcopal Divinity School, dean and president, the Very Reverend Katherine Hancock Ragsdale and Mally Lloyd, Canon to the Ordinary, took place today at the Cathedral Church of St Paul in Boston.

From the press release:

The Episcopalian bishop of Massachusetts began 2011 by solemnizing the first lesbian marriage – of two senior Episcopalian clergy – at Boston’s St Paul’s Cathedral Saturday (January 1).

The marriage of Episcopal Divinity School, dean and president, the Very Reverend Katherine Hancock Ragsdale and Mally Lloyd, Canon to the Ordinary, was the first lesbian marriage solemnized by the Right Reverend M Thomas Shaw SSJE, Bishop Diocesan of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts.

At the marriage attended by close to 400 guests, Bishop Shaw commented: “God always rejoices when two people who love each other make a life long commitment in marriage to go deeper into the heart of God through each other. It’s a profound pleasure for me to celebrate with God and my friends, the marriage of Katherine and Mally.”

The couple met on June 30, 2008, at the urging of a mutual friend. At the time, Canon Lloyd, 57, said, “We were both travelling a lot and so we would talk by phone. And somehow when you talk a lot by phone, a relationship can go deeper more quickly than when you spend time in person. At least that is what happened to us.”

Although this is a second marriage for Canon Lloyd, it is the first for Dean Ragsdale,52. “It’s astonishing how the world is changing,” Dean Ragsdale said, “when I grew up, I never believed I would be able to have someone special in my life and now to have almost 400 people show up to support us at our marriage ceremony is wonderful.”…

Though the Episcopal Church’s canons and formularly still state that marriage is between a man and a woman, the church at its General Convention in July of 2009 decided to allow that “bishops, particularly those in dioceses within civil jurisdictions where same-gender marriage, civil unions or domestic partnerships are legal, may provide generous pastoral response to meet the needs of members of this church.”…

And now you know why we have it! Flee while you still can.

By the way, whatever this abomination is, ‘marriage’ it is not.