American Church moves on

What ever else Katharine Jefferts Schori has done since she left the Roman Catholic Church with her mother and father and went into the Episcopal Church, she has been a one woman crusader for demolishing catholicity and erecting a new vision at odds with tradition.

Mrs. Schori is pretty good at dismissing those she thinks are out to wreck her mission. She has been pivotal in trampling on consciences, acting in an authoritarian way and denouncing those she diasagrees with. Her actions tempt me to think of "there will come a day when those who think they do God's will....", but that may be off the mark.

The Los Angeles Times reports on the "hundreds of conservative Episcopal congregations in North America, who reject liberal biblical views of others in the denomination, and have formed a breakaway church Wednesday that threatens to further divide a global Anglican body already torn by the ordination of an openly gay bishop." All this is very sad.

One bit caught my attention. The Rev. Charles Robertson, advisor to the Episcopal Church's presiding bishop, said in a statement."We reiterate what has been true of Anglicanism for centuries -- that there is room within the Episcopal Church for people with different views, and we regret that some have felt the need to depart from the diversity of our common life in Christ." For those not in the Episcopal Church, this statement should be seen as something in need of a trip to the confessional!

Charles Robertson knows in his heart that this is not true. The current leadership want only those that will accept the new ways, so it is disingenuous to say that "people with different views" have room. They only get to have the key to the door if they accept all the innovations or will not seek alternative episcopal oversight.

It could have been a whole lot different. If you seek to maintain the faith, you get pilloried. Only those with revisionist mindset will feel at home in the present-day Episcopal Church.