Turn Out the Lights, the Party's Over, Part 2

You may have noticed, dear Readers, that the majority of my posts over the last week or so have been on secular and political subjects.  I expect this trend to continue, for I am finding it increasingly difficult to say or write anything about the Episcopal Church that hasn't been said many times over.  It's done.  Stick a fork in it.  Turn out the lights, the party's over.  And so on.

There can be no legitimate question that TEO has left the building insofar as being a Christian church is concerned.  Its Presiding Heretic declaims a religion that is at complete loggerheads with anything resembling Christianity.  From the deafening silence that meets her heresies, one may only conclude that the majority of the House of Bishops either agrees with her, or lacks the spine to stand up to her and denounce her heresies.  I am certain there are some that believe she is wrong, but where are they?  Either way, heresy, not Christian theology, wins the day in TEO. 

There is ample evidence that would support a presentment against the Presiding Heretic, both for her non-Christian pronouncements, which violate the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the Church (abandonment of communion, anyone?), and for her trampling of the Constitution and Canons of the church in so many ways I will not waste the bandwidth to again catalogue them here.  Suffice it to say, for whatever reason, there does not seem to be anyone willing to take up the cause of fighting her abusive use of the office of Presiding Bishop, not even those who espouse the proverbial "Third Way" of fighting for TEO from the inside.

The most cogent example of what has become known as the "Third Way" is the position taken by +Mark Lawrence of South Carolina, who is recommending that DioSC withdraw from participation in various bodies within TEO unless and until TEO "repents" from its anti-Christian agenda.  It is difficult to divine exactly what Bishop Lawrence hopes to accomplish with this move.  Does he simply want to make this as a protest to what TEO has done and is doing, and to wear the proverbial hair shirt of independent faithfulness? 

Or is he trying to set something more substantive up, like baiting the Presiding Heretic to come after him with "abandonment of communion" charges, thus granting an excuse for Dio SC to leave TEO?  My concern with the latter "strategy" would be that someone at 815 would perceive that DioSC pulling out is a benefit, i.e., they won't be in the way anymore, and simply accept the protest and let it go.  I suppose one big question in how this might play out is how significant Dio SC's annual assessment is to the TEO budget.  Money and power, after all, not Christian mission, are the driving forces at 815.

I cannot seem to get past the Scriptures that warn against affiliating with false prophets and false teachers such as the Presiding Heretic.  I could no longer maintain that affiliation from a point in time over two years ago when attending a TEO service gave me chest pains from the stress and dishonesty of what was being said in the liturgy as opposed to the actual tehological positions being taken by the hierarchy of the church. 

The secular-political, social justice view of religion has taken over TEO from the inside, and is taking it down the path away from Christianity.  While I do understand the feelings of loyalty that many feel for TEO, I fear for where and how continued affiliation with such a destructive organization will leave those who remain Christians, but inhabit the dark halls and rooms of TEO.  I can believe it is not a nice place in which to find themselves, and respect their courage to forge on, even while I doubt that the "third way" fight will result in much effective change.

It just strikes me that we all have limited energy while on this mortal coil, and that we should be using that in a positive way to carry out the Great Commission to spread the Good News of God and Jesus Christ, as opposed to buzzing about like bottle flies over the dead corpus of TEO.  Whether it be by way of ACNA, or some other church that still practices and teaches Christianity does not matter to me. 

Comments

[Louise]

I have been closely following the saga on the Stand Firm in Faith blogs for about 4 years. I also have the sense that the struggle is over and the life blood of TEC is dribbling away or just drying up. Nothing to see now but there was a lot to learn. However, thank you for writing on this subject.