Stolen Looks at the ECUSA General Convention
I have not followed the General Convention of ECUSA in Columbus, Ohio, but I just peered at some of the coverage: it is not encouraging for those who, against all recent history, continue to work "inside the system." Two quick items.
Bishop Robert Duncan has noted ECUSA is, at last, in the valley of decision:
I believe, with the greatest of heartbreak and sadness, that the day has arrived where those who have chosen the Episcopal Church because of its catholic and evangelical reliability, and those who have chosen the Episcopal Church for its revolutionary character, can no longer be held together.
But IMHO, he completely blows the analysis:
The future in Communion rests only with the former of the two. It cannot be both ways into the future.
Actually, everything in the past several decades of ECUSA history demonstrates the "revolutionary" faction is ECUSA's past, present, and will progressively elbow out all others to become its lone future.
Oh Yeah, Jesus, Too....
A blogger at GenCon notes ECUSA has a new agenda:
Last night it suddenly dawned on me that the Episcopal Church has moved on from a focus on human sexuality issues. [! - BJ] We are doing an unexpected and wonderful new thing. We have a new vision emerging. We have seen the movement of God’s Spirit, and are beginning to join that dance. What are the specifics of this vision? Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation spells things out well for us, and offers practical suggestions of what we can do. The vision is focused around making the Millennium Development Goals a reality:
1. Eradicate extreme hunger and poverty.
2. Achieve universal primary education.
3. Promote gender equality and empower women.
4. Reduce child mortality.
5. Improve maternal health.
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases.
7. Ensure environmental sustainability.
8. Develop a global partnership for development.We are not going to retreat from where the Holy Spirit has led us in the past. But we’re not going to allow the debate of those decisions to dominate our current discussions. The wind of the Spirit has moved on, and so must we.
Notably absent: proclamation of the Gospel, celebration of the sacraments, and pursuit of spiritual well-being. (Note also the affirmation that "the Holy Spirit has led" them to ordain mitred homosexuals. And "empower women" likely means funding abortion around the world.)
Why anyone believes these kinds of differences can be papered over -- that the "revolutionary" faction and the traditional faction of ECUSA are in fact members of the same church as it is -- is beyond me. To repeat one of Ari Adams' favorite quotations:
posted by Ben Johnson at 1:20 AM
2 Comments:
Gadflea, I understand his point. It would be an interesting development if Canterbury were to break communion with ECUSA -- but I definitely wouldn't hold my breath. Much less will Canada, Australia, or the rest of the "first world" AC churches, which are further into apostasy than America. There comes a point when one tires of whipping a dead horse and looks elsewhere.
I don't understand the perceived need on the part of a religious organization to duplicate the efforts of the UN?
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