Category Archives: TEC

I need your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle

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An extraordinary tale of diocesan avarice:

We have all your stuff now, but we think you owe us more!

I’d like to share with you a letter from the Bishop and Diocesan Council of The Episcopal Church’s (TEC) Diocese of the Rio Grande. But first, a little background so that you can appreciate the letter in all its fullness.

This time two years ago, approximately 80% of the parishioners of St. Mark’s on-the-Mesa (TEC) left the parish and formed Christ the King Anglican, Albuquerque, NM (Anglican Church in North America). When those parishioners left the parish, the Diocese of the Rio Grande, and the Episcopal Church, they left everything. They left the property, building, endowments, bank accounts – even paperclips and pencils. They did so in good conscience, with generosity, and with love for those who in good conscience could not leave The Episcopal Church. Based on their reading of scripture, these parishioners did not want to fight over buildings and property in civil courts. Instead, they walked away and began a new life together as Anglican followers of Jesus Christ at Christ the King Anglican Church. Not only did the new parish draw former Episcopalians, but also Christians from other denominations who wanted to worship and serve at Christ the King Anglican.

Fast forward two years to August 31, 2011 (about three weeks ago). The congregation’s rector, the Rev. Roger Weber, former priest at St. Mark’s, received this letter from TEC Bishop Michael Vono of the Diocese of the Rio Grande:

Bishop Michael Vono

August 31, 2011
Dear Father Weber,

RE: St. Mark’s on the Mesa, Albuquerque
Fair Share Obligation, Third Quarter 2009

I pray that this finds you well in the Lord! Summer is always such a gift in the ministry, a time for reflection, refreshment and anticipation for the end of the liturgical year.

On July 12 of this year, the Diocesan Council had a meeting here a [sic] Diocesan House. At that time, a group from St. Mark’s-on-the-Mesa, Albuquerque came before the Council to request forgiveness for their Fair Share obligation from the third quarter of 2009. As I am sure you are well aware, it was during this time that a good number of the clergy and congregation at St. Mark’s-on-the-Mesa left to form a new congregation, leaving the remaining members with quite a financial and emotional burden to carry. What follows is the motion as it was amended and passed that afternoon.

Motion, that the -$25,000 Fair Share obligation for St. Mark’s on-the-Mesa, Albuquerque for the third quarter of 2009 be forgiven. Moved and seconded to amend the motion by replacing it with the following: that the -$25,000 Fair Share obligation for St. Mark’s-on-the-Mesa, Albuquerque for the third quarter of 2009 be adjusted to $5,000 and that the Diocesan Council write a pastoral letter to the leadership of Christ the King Anglican Church appealing to them to cover $20,000 of the original Fair Share obligation for St. Mark’s on-the-Mesa, Albuquerque for the third quarter of 2009.

The amendment passed. The amended motion passed.

As you can see, it was the decision of Council to hold St. Mark’s-on-the-Mesa responsible for the entire Fair Share payment for the third quarter in 2009, requesting that the burden be split between the members that left and the members that stayed, dividing the responsibility roughly along the lines of how the congregation self-selected.

I would ask that you would prayerfully consider accepting the responsibility of paying the portion of the Fair Share that was required by the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande.
If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact me here at Diocesan House, or in my absence, Mr. Fred Winter or Ms. Lisa Katz-Ricker, 505-881-0636.

Your brother in Christ,
The Right Rev’d Michael L. Vono
IX Bishop, Diocese of the Rio Grande

[….]

They have no shame.
The people who left St. Mark’s-on-the-Mesa willingly surrendered their property. They literally turned the other cheek. In response, the Diocese of the Rio Grande basically said, “we have all your stuff now, but we think you owe us more.”

What does this remind me of; oh, right the title:

Washington cathedral faces millions in repairs after quake

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From here:

Washington, D.C. – The iconic Washington National Cathedral, already struggling with financial problems, faces millions of dollars in repair costs from the damage inflicted by the Aug.23 U.S. East Coast earthquake. And nothing is covered by insurance, according to a church official.

The solution is obvious: replace it with a cardboard replica. It would match the cardboard replica that has replaced Christianity in the Episcopal Church.

Diocese of Newark to commemorate 10th anniversary of 9/11 with a reading from the Koran

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There will also be participation from other religions because, after all, every religion points to the same thing and all we are really looking for is peace, love, harmony and mushy feelings.

From here:

In the Diocese of Newark, Bishop Mark Beckwith will be joined by Rabbi Matthew D. Gewirtz of Temple B’Nai Jeshurun in Short Hills and Imam W. Deen Shareef of Masjid Waarith ud Deen in Irvington to lead an interfaith service, titled “Compassion in Action,” at 3 p.m. on Sept. 11 at Trinity & St. Philip’s Cathedral in Newark.

The service will blend scripture and reflections based on the Old and New Testaments and the Qur’an, music from the Jewish and Christian traditions and the Al-Adhaan, the Islamic call to worship.

On Sept. 10, the Los Angeles city hall will host OneLight, a vigil for peace, on the eve of the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

What’s the difference between a Christian and an Episcopalian?

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I have no idea, but even a secular sports writer recognises that they are not one and the same (my emphasis):

This is not simply about Tebow’s play, this is personal.

And even if he ends up being the worst quarterback in the history of quarterbacks, why are we OK with turning his Christianity into a punch line? If Tebow were a devout Muslim, would we snark about tenets of his religion? Or if he were Jewish? Or Buddhist? Or atheist? Or Espicopalian?

Maybe, but those cracks would be flagged by the PC crowd almost immediately. Christianity is fair game.

Is it just my imagination, or is the bold sentence a list religions in the order of the strength of their belief in an omnipotent, supernatural, omniscient God? Descending order.

TEC doesn’t want to include James McGreevey

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From here:

The Episcopal Church denied priesthood to former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey, according to The New York Post. McGreevey may be famously remembered for resigning from his governor post in 2004 after coming out as a “gay American” and a series of gay flings despite his marriage to then-wife Dina Matos McGreevey.

A statement regarding his rejection for priesthood has not been formally announced or commented on by the Episcopal Church, but The Post cites the Episcopal Diocese of Newark explaining, “It was not being gay but for being a jackass.” The Episcopal church welcomes gay and lesbian priests and has since the organization lifted the ban in 2009.…..

Now living as an openly gay man, McGreevey resides with his partner, Mark O’Donnell, in New Jersey where they share a mansion, according to NBC News

This is surprising since McGreevey has the all the qualifications that TEC values: he had gay flings while being married to a woman; he came out; he lives with his gay partner; and he’s even a jackass. He sounds like bishop material to me.

The Episcopal Church faces a “life or death decision”

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From here:

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori challenged the Episcopal Church’s Executive Council Oct. 24 to avoid “committing suicide by governance.”

No need to worry about governance, the Episcopal Church is already using the method much preferred by Anglicans: suicide by heresy.

Jefferts Schori said that the council and the church face a “life-or-death decision,” describing life as “a renewed and continually renewing focus on mission” and death as “an appeal to old ways and to internal focus” which devotes ever-greater resources to the institution and its internal conflicts.

Does that mean Jefferts Schori will stop using ever-greater resources to sue recalcitrant parishes into submission? No, that is not a serious question.

Later in her remarks, Jefferts Schori said “we need a system that is more nimble, that is more able to respond to change,” calling for “a more responsive and adaptable and less rigid set of systems.”

Good idea, a less rigid set of systems would allow for so-called cross-border interventions.

In case anyone wonders what “mission” means to TEC, the following clarifies that it has nothing whatsoever to do with winning souls for Christ and everything to do with marrying homosexuals:

For example, the ongoing work of the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music to respond to General Convention Resolution C056’s authorization to collect and develop theological resources and liturgies for blessing same-gender relationships is what she called the work of mission.

As for the future:

Jefferts Schori said “we don’t know what the future will look like … but what we do know, if we’re honest about it, it will look different than it did last year or 10 years ago.”

It will look different: there will be even fewer TEC Anglicans.

US Bishops march for open borders – but not for Anglicans

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From here:

The Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops has called for a halt to the enforcement of US immigration laws, calling upon Episcopalians to join with other members of the religious left in “actively protesting” racial stereotyping and demand a halt to “practices that treat undocumented workers as criminals.”

In a pastoral letter and discussion paper released at the close of their Sept 16-21 meeting in Phoenix, the bishops said the starting point for a debate on illegal immigration begins with “an obligation to advocate for every undocumented worker as already being a citizen of God’s reign on earth and one for whom Christ died.”

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It’s a little ironic that US Bishops are all for open borders in the secular realm, but when it comes to open borders for Anglicans it is quite another matter:

Schori told the press that she found the cross-border interventions “painful and destructive.” She said, “It destroys pastoral relationships….It does spiritual violence to vowed relationships.”

The inclusive Anglican church

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Let’s include everyone!

The Episcopal Church must open its doors to become more inclusive and find ways to make itself relevant beyond Sunday mornings, its presiding bishop said Friday as she prepared to take part in the Diocese of Milwaukee’s annual convention.

Let’s include atheists, paedophiles, pagans, neo-pagans, Muslims, Universalists, Druids and polyamorists. Oh, hang on, we already do: we make them bishops.

Mary Glasspool consecration: no-one objected

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During the consecration of Anglican-nouveau lesbian bishop, Mary Glasspool there came a point where those attending could object:Add an Image

There was a moment on Saturday when even the usually unflappable J. Jon Bruno, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, held his breath.

It was the point when the 3,000 people at the Long Beach Arena were asked if anyone had any objections to the ordination of the region’s first two female bishops, one of whom is the first lesbian bishop ordained by the Episcopal Church.

There were 3000 people present – many of whom were clergy – but when the moment of truth came, no-one objected. Why? After all, orthodox Christians who remain in TEC and the ACoC are supposedly working for reform from within by holding steadfastly to the faith once delivered; surely there would have been at least one person prepared to politely object to the consecration? Apparently not. And therein lies the flaw of trying to reform Anglicanism from within an apostate province: in practice, it isn’t happening, a stand is not being taken and the heterodox juggernaut blunders on unhindered.

Those who made it conspicuously apparent that they would object were expelled from the assembly – presumably in the name of inclusion – before reaching the point of potential embarrassment. The ejected placard wielders might have made a more strategically effective statement by waiting for the appointed moment for objections – although I can sympathise with their impatience and applaud their enthusiasm.

And early in the service, shortly after Bruce and Jardine had taken the stage, a man seated near the front of the arena stood, waved a placard and begin shouting: “Repent of the sins of the homosexual! Repent of the sin of abortion!”

As the audience stirred, a woman yelled sharply: “Sit down!”

As security guards led him off, the man continued yelling. “It’s an abomination! Repent! The Bible says homosexuals will not enter …” and his voice trailed off.

As the ceremony resumed, a young boy in a white shirt stood up, holding aloft what appeared to be a Bible. “Repent!” he began yelling to the startled arena. “Repent!” As he was led out, a voice called out, “We’re praying for you!” The audience applauded.

Praying what for you, one wonders, and to whom?