Episcopal Priest Resigns

Hello Everyone!

This is the latest story in the "fallout" following the election of Gene Robinson at the ECUSA meeting in August. It appeared in today's Washington Times, here's the link: http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030909-113539-9054r.htm

There is a typo in the last paragraph where Paul Willis is quoted as saying: "I'm very excited at the opportunity to be in an Anglican church that is under the authority of an apostate denomination," he said. "I cannot in good conscience bring a new Christian to the Episcopal Church."

The word "not" is missing.

On Monday,the Women's Ministry held their monthly fellowship meeting and invited the women from St. Timothy to attend as guests.

My wife,Mary Clare,went and was happy to see that many of the St.Timothy women came( we used to attend St.Timothy's until 2001 )and was asked many questions about Bishop Cummins,our liturgy, how communion is served and if I was still playing my "bongo" drum(i.e. conga drum)at the service.

She invited them to come to the 11am service to see since it will follow their 10am service. Also,we may visit their service as well.

This is going to be an interesting adventure since none of us experienced a split in the church in our lifetimes and are making sure that everything goes as prayed for and as planned.

(The REC was formed after a split between conservatives and liberals in the Episcopal church in 1873,Bishop Cummins was founded in 1875 as The Church of the Rock of Ages).

Also,all of the parishes and dioceses that are considering leaving the ECUSA are watching us as a guide as to what to do.

Our pastor,Paul Schenck,was invited by our presiding bishop,Leonard Riches,to attend the upcoming meeting in Texas. The REC will be there as observers and to offer prayerful support for the nearly 1,800 clergy and lay people who will be attending.

The following week,the conservative bishops will meet with Rowan Williams,the Archbishop of Canterbury regarding forming a seperate province in the world wide Anglican church for all of the conservatives. So,there's much to pray for!

In Christ,

Dale McNamee

 

Hello Everyone!

In my previous post,I mentioned "fallout" regarding Fr. Randall's resignation.

Well,there might be a great deal of trouble for ECUSA after the conservative bishops meet with the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Here's the link from CommunionParishes.org

http://www.communionparishes.org/whatisabouttohappen.htm

Talk about "fallout"!

In Christ,

Dale

 

Dear Mark H.,

You wrote: If I recall correctly, back when Dr. Rowan Williams became Archbishop of Canterbury, he was generally depicted in the media as being very ... um ... "gay-friendly," for want of a better term.

Since he's called this meeting, how much control will he have over what goes on there, and what comes out of it? If he's generally in agreement with the ECUSA (or at least not in strong disagreement), would he be able to derail any significant sanctions in favor of a "slap-on-the-wrist" type of response (if even that)?"

You are somewhat correct in viewing Rowan Williams as "gay friendly" since he had ordained a practicing homosexual as a priest in the past.

But,what will really affect the outcome is that the conservative primates,who lead some 77 million Biblically conservative parishoners,are strongly united in pushing for punishing ECUSA,unike in the past. Don't forget that there are 45 US bishops that opposed the gay bishop.

He is also well aware that he won't get by with a "slap on the wrist" seeing that it would truly bring about a schism in the Anglican church. And he is well aware of the growing revolt that's been happening ever since the vote. 77 million congregants world-wide vs. 2.6 million in ECUSA!

Remember,there was a vote to allow for "diocesan discretion in blessing same-sex unions" that didn't make the news. He's going to have to deal with that as well.

Please go to the following link: http://www.americananglican.org/News/NewsList.cfm?c=21&num=1000

It will let you know what's been happening thus far in some of the parishes and dioceses,
and everybody's waiting to see what happens in Dallas (it was moved from Plano due to the number of attendees) and England before they act.

Please read this article from Communionparishes.org: http://www.communionparishes.org/response.htm
to give you some background on some of the internal workings of the Episcopal church. Then, re-read the " What is About to Happen " article: http://www.communionparishes.org/whatisabouttohappen.htm

This should help you to understand the situation better.

And check out the other articles there,as they are also very informative.

In Christ,

Dale