Episcopal Church bars 21 clergy from duties

Acting like Democratic politicans, Islamic Holy Warriors, or mafiosi the leadership of the Episcopal church continues to play hardball with anyone it doesn't like.

Katherine Schori, and the Bishop of Virginia, the Rt. Rev. Peter James Lee, have inhibited 21 priests in the Diocese of Virginia who have publically disagreed with the liberal direction the church is going.

"Jim Pierobon, a spokesman for some of the departed Northern Virginia churches, said, "We at The Falls Church were preparing to offer a service, presided over by an Episcopal priest who remains on our staff, for the handful of folks who disagreed with our decision in mid-December to separate from the denomination.

"But Peter Lee has now cut off our ability to accommodate those whom he says need pastoral care. Once again, Peter Lee appears to be working at cross-purposes," Pierobon added.

The diocese's standing committee met last week to consider the status of the clergy and determined that the clerics had abandoned the Episcopal Church."

The Richmond Times Dispatch

Dex And Julie - at the Arden - mostly cheers

Took my wife to the Arden Theater Saturday for their latest world premier - Dex and Julie Sittin' In A Tree by Bruce Graham.

Briefly, the acting was professional and competent, set design wonderful, a professional and tight script, direction was fine. Length was perfect at 1 hour and 45 minutes. It's a good show although for most of the first act it didn't appeal to me.

Dex and Julie is a show written for the Arden and its clientele - sophisticated, urban and urbane, clever (there is a lot of clever writing in the script). It attempted to appeal to the downtown Philly crowd - and that's where it almost lost me. I don't relate in any way to the famous economist (Dex) - and the very successful professor (Julie) - both late-middle-aged, childless, living well, and successful in everything - well not quite.

I don't like Dex. I don't like men who don't eventually want to settle down and have a family. I'm not saying every man should (probably better that this guy didn't) but I don't relate to a man who can grow into his late 40s, have lots of sex (much of it with young women), and never feel an overwhelming desire for children and family. Also a heterosexual woman who never feels this way is so far from nature that I find her un-realistic. Maybe Bruce Graham intended to set me up like this.

This show takes the first of 2 radical turns that make it suddenly interesting at its mid-point. It humanizes Julie, and sets the stage for an interesting act 2. What was a light, fluffy sit-com is suddenly not light at all. This is noted in the Philadelphia Inquirer review as well.

Then there is a second radical turn in act 2. The Inquirer did not note this. And I'm not sure the target audience will like it. I loved it. I cannot say what happens because it's a spoiler - but I can say it's not politically correct - and it's not normal for the sterotypical urban and urbane, well-educated, successful downtown woman. This turns Julie into a real woman (although dangerously calculating - and very much too cold for my wife).

I never liked Dex. But his character is reflective of a great many successful men today - it's all about him. I came to feel for Julie and see her humanity and true femininity (not the ideological and un-natural femininity we've been exposed to by the media and academia for the past 3 decades).

Bruce Graham is a real pro. The Arden is a very good theater. This will leave you with a lot to think about. And so I'd recommend this show.

Episcopal Revisionism comes to The Lord's Prayer.

In church this morning we were given a new version of The Lord's Prayer. My church, St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Pennsylvania has (like much of the rest of The Episcopal Church) been running away from its traditions at full speed - especially the 1928 Book of Common Prayer (which is now forbidden to be used in the Diocese of Pennsylvania).

*************
Aside
- here is The Lord's Prayer in Old English as it would have been recited prior to the Norman invasion of 1066, before the influx of French words into our language -

Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum si þin nama gehalgod tobecume þin rice gewurþe þin willa on eorðan swa swa on heofonum urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us to dæg and forgyf us ure gyltas swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum and ne gelæd þu us on costnunge ac alys us of yfele soþlice


Hear this recited in Olde Englisc below



- here is the Lord's prayer in Middle English - as it would have been spoken in England before the Church of England, but after the Norman invasion:

Oure fadir þat art in heuenes halwid be þi name;
þi reume or kyngdom come to be.
Be þi wille don in herþe as it is doun in heuene.
yeue to us today oure eche dayes bred.
And foryeue to us oure dettis þat is oure synnys as we foryeuen to oure dettouris þat is to men þat han synned in us.
And lede us not into temptacion but delyuere us from euyl.

*************

The traditional 1928 BCP version of the Lord's Prayer is this:
OUR Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it
is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive
us our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against
us. And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from
evil. Amen.

Today our rector, Fr. Paul Harris, gave us this which he called The Lord's Prayer, and asked us to recite this during the season of Epiphany. I have not heard this before.

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your Name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
an earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial,
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and for ever. Amen.


Although the modern language is vulgar - and I dislike addressing the Father as though He were a good buddy ("your" instead of "Thy") all of these updates could be explained by a desire to modernize the text. The real problem however is with "Save us from the time of trial."

What does "Save us from the time of trial" mean? And why have they removed "lead us not into temptation?"

Are they so totally against the doctrine of original sin now that even the notion of temptation must be removed from worship?

If any of my millions :-) of faithful readers can help me with this one I'd really appreciate hearing from you.

thanks,

..tom

The need for clarity

Magnificent article from an Episcopal priest who now regrets his vote to confirm Katherine Schori as Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church.

So Much in a Few Words
By James B. Simons
rector of St. Michael’s of The Valley Church, Ligonier, Pa.
Jan 2, 2007
The Living Church Foundation

" "Q. How many members of The Episcopal Church are there in this country?

A. About 2.2 million. It used to be larger percentagewise (sic), but Episcopalians tend to be better educated and tend to reproduce at lower rates than other denominations."

New York Times Magazine. Sunday Nov. 19, 2006 The New York Times was lobbing soft balls to the new Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, when this exchange took place. The more I have thought about her answer to this simple question, the more I am convinced that in a single sentence the Presiding Bishop illustrates rather dramatically the crisis that faces The Episcopal Church. She does so in three ways.

First, she confirms our sense of cultural elitism. In an essay reflecting on his short sojourn into The Episcopal Church, Garrison Keillor described us as the “church in wing-tips, the church of the scotch and soda, worshipping God in extremely good taste.”

Apparently in this case, caricature is reality. We see ourselves as better than other Christians, more privileged, more enlightened. What’s even more amazing is that we are apparently willing to announce this publicly. “We’re better educated than other denominations” would seem to me to be in the class of statements such as “You look pregnant.” Even if it were true, why would you say it out loud, let alone to The New York Times?

I think the answer has to do with mistaking hubris for honesty.This statement is also a slap at our brothers and sisters in the Anglican Communion where the church is growing rapidly. The clear inference is that those in the global south are less educated and so they have more children, hence the enormous growth of those provinces. This understanding is of a whole cloth with The Episcopal Church’s continued insistence that we know better than the rest of the Communion about issues of sexuality and doctrine. We can dismiss the primitive musings of an uninformed, if growing, Communion. We are, after all, better educated.

Second, the statement illustrates the enormous denial of our church leadership regarding the denomination. People are leaving congregations, congregations are leaving dioceses, and dioceses are seeking a way to be Anglican without being Episcopalian. Even a cursory reading of the pages of this publication will reveal that controversies over issues of sexuality, biblical interpretation, and doctrine are among the primary issues causing this flight. ..."

Hope for the Church of England!

The magnificent Church of England may be on the verge of a revival. I wonder if the Muslim-worship preached by Tony Blair has anything to do with it? In any case it is welcome. Perhaps the Episcopal church here in America is on the verge of the same kind of revival.

Question: How will those who (like me) who were raised in the Episcopal church react when they come home to discover it has been taken over by the Left with it's political and sexual agendas?

"I hope that this Christmas may see the beginning of a modest but definite return to Christianity in this country, where many people have for so long either despised it or been indifferent to it. I think there are, at last, signs that this may be happening. The news that the Church of England's Cathedrals have, in recent years, had to turn away Christmas worshippers because they are full up is quietly encouraging - especially given how enormous many of these buildings are. "

"A religious revival for people who are not really religious"
Peter Hitchens
The Daily Mail
Jan 2, 2007