B*****!

From Virtue Online

"In a shocking end to a less than illustrious ecclesiastical career, U.S. Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori has been deposed for denying that Episcopalians need personal salvation. That she spent tens of millions of dollars on property lawsuits did not help her case. Episcopalians were finally fed up.

Jefferts Schori, who seemed calm and composed during the announcement that she was being fired, angrily left 815 2nd Avenue, NY the church’s national headquarters in her limousine firing over her shoulder that the trouble with the church was its abject fundamentalists.

After being told she was out and that TEC’s CEO Bishop Stacy Sauls would temporarily step in till a new PB is elected, Jefferts Schori seemed resigned to her fate.

"She went quietly," her media spokesperson Neva Rae Fox said. "She muttered something like, I don't want to run a church filled with homophobes, anti-inclusivists, traditionalists, evangelicals, fundamentalists and those lacking in diversity. She also had some tough words about the Apostle Paul and demon possession, suggesting he might have had a bad cosmic dude floating around in him.”

Back at national headquarters, some of her colleagues expressed relief she was gone. They also hoped that she would get the necessary theological relief to recover her faith before she dies and faces the Last Judgment with nothing to show for her life, as she doesn’t believe in the salvation of nominal Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, homosexuals, lesbians and people into threesomes.

On hearing the news, former Archbishop Rowan Williams also expressed relief that she is gone saying that she had been a royal pain in the a** when he was ABC, but refused to be more specific as he was reading poetry to his wife as they punted down the Cam." 

END

When I hurriedly read this story on Virtue Online before leaving home this morning I could hardly believe my eyes. Why had there been no report elsewhere? In haste I shouted to my wife that Jefferts Schori had been deposed. As she rushed to share the good news, I noticed the sub-heading: "A satirical essay". 
Please pardon the expletive!

Is this to be the fate of the Church of England?

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock...But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.  Matthew 7:24-26

    
From the American Anglican Council:
 "The leadership of the Episcopal Church is considering disciplinary action against 9 bishops. These nine bishops are: Bishops Edward Salmon, Peter Beckwith, Bruce MacPherson, Maurice Benitez, John Howe, Paul Lambert, James Stanton, Daniel Martins, and William Love. 

Essentially, The Episcopal Church is investigating them for providing testimony in lawsuits that supported the rights of dioceses to disaffiliate from the church. Find out more about this sad story here. Canon Phil Ashey analyzes the events in the video report here."   

[Apologies for the unexplained disappearance of the video which appeared here, now accessed via the above link - Ed]

    The uncompromising attitude of Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori is already in evidence in the Church of England where women demanding so called equality show no quarter to those who simply want to keep the faith. Complaining that concessions to traditionalists would make senior female clergy second class citizens they have threatened to vote against the measure to ordain women bishops - but purely as a temporary strategy of course. In their latest move, WATCH seek to intimidate those whom they regard as weak-kneed bishops with a petition signed by more than 4,000 'people' calling for the withdrawal of Clause 5(1)(c). It would be interesting to know the theological position of the 4,000+ signatories, many of whom I suspect take a purely secular position while some of the signatories already have their names in the frame to be the first woman bishop in the Church of England which could be seen as an exercise in self advancement. As recent figures show, female clergy now have considerable muscle and are not afraid to use it threatening strike action if their demands are not met. Let's hope the bishops of our church have more resolve than Adam!

A further worrying sign is the appointment of the Presiding Bishop's disciple Dr Barry Morgan, Archbishop of Wales, to the Crown Nominations Commission tasked with finding a replacement Archbishop of Canterbury following the departure of Archbishop Rowan Williams. Whereas ++Rowan has worked tirelessly to find a workable solution to our troubles, Dr Morgan is resolutely opposed to any concessions to traditionalists, so much so that he lost the vote to appoint women bishops in Wales because of his intransigence. He is now seeking a second bite of the apple to achieve his cherished ambition of appointing the first woman bishop in the land, ignoring 'the work of the Holy Spirit' which is claimed only if a favourable vote is achieved. He may yet succeed. I hear of persistent rumours rife in Wales following the retirement of his Dean suggesting that a sideways move could be made to clear the way for the appointment of the first woman assistant bishop if the Governing Body of the Church in Wales can be persuaded to give him the vote on the second time of asking. He has already taken over as Dean pro tem, apparently much to the chagrin of the Cathedral Chapter suggesting some truth in the rumour!

So the signs are plain to see. Manipulation, scheming, deception, anything and everything is offered to the false god of so-called 'equality' no matter what the cost. Is that what the church is? In response to my previous entry one of Dr Morgan's few admirers (but perhaps not for long!) took me to task with the comment: "Your phrase 'immature schoolgirls' is at best a tautology, at worst an example of the very misogyny you deny in the previous paragraph. Don't write off schoolgirls so cavalierly; after all, the mother of our Lord was one!" Ignoring the 'schoolgirl' suggestion Mary is quite rightly used as an example. She was humble and accepted the will of God. Some  of the women (and men) who strive for supposed 'equality' in the church as though it does not exist might well say that they too are "doing God's will" but Mary went about her work for God in a very quiet way. No shouting, no bullying, no self advancement, just simply and bravely doing what God asked of her. She let our Lord shine out, never wanting to be recognised as anything other than being His mother, even watching Him die on the cross. That is true service. Not shouting, manipulating, blaming others, wanting everything at any cost, disregarding the needs of others. The true sign of Mary which the Church has recognised for two millennia. Why the pressure to change?

Archbishop's heretical mentor

" 'WOMEN have an important role to play in leading the Church in Wales', Archbishop Barry Morgan has said ahead of its governing body’s examination of the issue next year. Speaking to the Western Mail, Dr Morgan said he was holding on to the hope that the church will accept women bishops before he steps down. Proposals to enable women to enter the episcopate were backed in 2008 by bishops and laity in the governing body but failed by three votes to win the necessary two-thirds majority among clergy. A new vote will not be taken in April but the subject will be examined in detail." [Dec 26 2011]

Perhaps he is unfortunate in his choice of friends but the latest report in Virtue Online is a devastating critique of Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori's ministry with the headline - 'Violent Images for God: She Describes the Son of God as a Hell's Angel "Gang Leader" and "Party Animal". Her lack of concern for all American Anglicans as well as for the wider Anglican Communion comes from her own deformed image of God. Everyone in the Episcopal Church and indeed the Anglican Communion has suffered because of her confused thinking.'

" 'WOMEN should be represented at all levels of the church', the most powerful Anglican in the US has said during a visit to Wales. A familiar ring but there's more: 'There has been remarkable women’s leadership throughout the church’s history. The apostle to the apostles, Mary Magdalene, who reports the resurrection for the first time, is a remarkable witness to women’s leadership in the early church. It’s clear that many of the early church communities were sheltered and led and supported by women. The church has elected to forget that in many instances" [Jul 2010]. Step up PB Jefferts Schori, the new Mary Magdalene, showing the church the way. In the Episcopal Church of the US it looks like the road to ruin. 

Women in dog collars have done nothing to advance Christ's kingdom on earth as churches continue to empty. If the PB Jefferts Schori's Episcopal Church is an example of what is to come we may as well give up now.


Happy Epiphany!


Postscript
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams raises an eyebrow over the actions of his American flock. Report here.

New Anglicanism

My wife never tires of telling me that men simply do not understand women and have no idea what the church is letting itself in for as feminism invades the church. A startling example of this and what has happened to the Anglican Church in the US  appears in VirtueOnline with: 

Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori's Aggression Against Anglican Leaders 

Jefferts Schori attacks Archbishop Rowan Williams with the Charge of Double-Mindedness  

 We have been warned.

Church in Wales set to abandon the faithful!

Hot on the heels of my previous blog, rumours circulating in Wales suggest that already five out of the six dioceses - yes there really are six dioceses with six Diocesan Bishops and an Ass Bishop 'serving' just 1% of the 3million population - will no longer accept for ordination anyone who has objections of conscience to the ordination of women. 

I am told that at the last meeting of the Governing Body of the Church in Wales, a woman vicar was listened to with incredulity by some when she proposed that candidates for ordination must be refused if they did not support women's ordination but clearly she had the mind of the Bench, particularly of the Archbishop whose heart was hardened when the  measure to admit women to the Episcopate was rejected. Had the vote gone his way it would have been the 'work of the Holy Spirit'! These double standards have become standard in the crusade for women power.


For those in the Church of England considering the admission of women to the Episcopate who insist that it couldn't happen here, the writing is already on the wall. The Presiding Bishop's Welsh admirer has indicated that he is of one mind as he preaches feminism rather than the historic faith despite reports showing that Dr Jefferts Schori "has deposed more bishops than any other Presiding bishop in American ecclesiastical history and has spent more money (upwards of $22 million) on lawyers to litigate for properties that she and her bishops will ultimately be forced to sell than any other Presiding Bishop in history."


England, be warned.

Thanksgiving thanks, no thanks

The jovial Archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, recently elected President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has run into trouble.

Was the Archbishop simply mimicking his Episcopal Church opposite number, the 'spirit hearing' Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori, being relevant to society by referring to God as 'She'?

We have heard much lately about the procedure for Anglo Catholics thinking of going to Rome. If Bishop Dolan is thinking of going the other way, just a simple phone call from Tim to Mrs Jefferts Schori should do the trick.

Another covenant?

The Anglican Communion is taking desperate measures to stitch together something that might be passed off as a silk purse rather than the sow’s ear it has become. When the General Synod meets later this month to discuss the proposed Anglican Covenant, designed to hold together its disparate members with their “constitutional autonomy [in] the Anglican Communion”, they will find that lines have already have been drawn and campaigns organised against it.

As the major churches of East and West strive for unity with signs of [gender neutral] brotherly love, the Anglican Communion persists in pushing itself further and further away pretending that God is for their liberal agenda, necessitating rules for dealing with strife. Gone is the mystery, the tolerance, the ‘love thy neighbour’ of the New Covenant which swept away the hypocrisy of old. In its place we have a secularised, do as you please organisation where faith has given way to political correctness, often self-centred rather than Christ-centred.

An example of how badly things have gone wrong is demonstrated by the Episcopal Church of the United States illustrated in the Anglican Curmudgeon Blog and, closer to the context of the Church of England, by the St Barnabas Blog.

Seeing how Anglicanism is falling apart clearly shows that re-interpreting the Gospel to suit today's lifestyle does not work. This is exemplified by the web site of the CofE's neighbouring Church in Wales, the introductory page of which has much more to do with politics than with religion. “His Darkness” the Archbishop of Wales, a disciple of Mrs Jefferts Schori, frequently claims that he is making the church relevant to society today, blind to the fact that the unchanging mysteries of Orthodoxy and Catholicism have far more relevance outside his little domain. Even unchanging Islam growing in their own backyards fails to convince liberals that they may be mistaken.

Compare these examples of modern day Anglicanism with the timeless teachings of the Orthodox and Catholic churches. Compare traditional faith with the modern difficulties caused of choosing another way. I do not ever remember the Archbishop of Canterbury looking so uncomfortable as he does when he seeks to explain the Anglican Covenant. And with good reason as its main purpose is stated to be how to sort out divisions that have arisen [of their own making Ed]. Archbishop Rowan ends by saying that he hopes the covenant will be a “truly effective tool for witness and mission in our world”.

I wish him success in his endeavour but it must be blindingly obvious that if the Anglican Church had continued to follow the New Covenant in Jesus Christ, there should be no need of another.

'Great' Minds Think Alike!

A report in Wales Online shows Katharine Jefferts Schori, the Presiding Bishop of the American Episcopal Church, and the Archbishop of Wales, Barry Morgan, to be in complete agreement on how religion should be brought into the third millennium to make it more relevant to society today.

Unhappily for those trying to keep the faith, these church leaders are just big fish in small ponds, completely out of touch with the wider Christian church. Rather than adhere to scripture and tradition, the new make-it-up-as-you-go-along Anglican church twists events to suit their stance and misrepresents the facts giving rise to claims of discrimination and misogyny to crush those who disagree with them.

Thy do it their way without the humility to consider that they may be wrong, dragging their flocks down with them. The very least they could do is to allow those who disagree with them to worship according to their own beliefs, not how they, as church leaders, determine. Neither has the authority to do so other than that taken upon themselves by a flawed procedure.