Scholar Writes Fiction on Future of Episcopal Church

News Analysis

By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
2/19/2009

Dr. Diana Butler Bass, a nationally recognized scholar, speaker and author of "Christianity for the Rest of Us," believes that she can debunk the myth that only evangelical and Pentecostal churches are growing.

Bass has written extensively, and with some optimism, about mainline Protestant churches. Speaking to a group of 125 disaffected Episcopalians at the Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, the author put on the best face she knew and said the common denominator among thriving mainline congregations, is their decision to adopt spiritual practices.

Among her hearers was the newly elected Provisional Bishop of the faux Ft. Worth Diocese, The Rt. Rev. Ted Gulick who voted for Gene Robinson's consecration and is one of the most rabidly revisionist bishop's in The Episcopal Church. He is also the Diocesan Bishop of Kentucky.

Bass said vital congregations generally embrace three or four several spiritual practices that reflect the needs and gifts of the congregation and typically include theological reflection, hospitality, contemplation, and diversity.

Let us review for a moment what she calls "theological reflection." For Episcopalians like Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori, "theological reflection" means embracing Millennium Development Goals, and what she calls "the other" -- meaning those who practice a variety of pansexual behaviors leading to Jesus as a "vehicle to the divine", but not exclusively Savior and Lord.

One blogger noted that Dr. Bass's argument about evangelical and Pentecostal churches is a straw man. It is a ridiculous, he wrote, because no one has actually proposed and then argued against it. Furthermore, no one has said that there aren't individual, growing parishes in the dying liberal mainline denominations. "Take, for example, the most extreme church, All Saints, Pasadena, where gay is OK and open communion (no baptism required) is practiced. It is growing because it attracts the most liberal lefties, but the Diocese of Los Angeles is shrinking. And how long can growth be sustained by taking more and more extreme positions?"

It should also be noted that The Episcopal Church is the fastest dying mainline denomination in America. It claims 2.4 million members, but its Average Sunday Attendance (ASA) is now about 727,000, down from 847,000 a year ago. And the bottom is not in sight. Despite angry lawsuits and property losses, the human toll to TEC continues to grow and there is no end in sight. The hemorrhaging will only continue. A study by the denomination's statistician, Kirk Hadaway, available here http://tinyurl.com/2dmx97 reveals just how bad the hemorrhaging is.

The Episcopal Church has declined in absolute numbers, he wrote. The Episcopal Church's director of research to the Executive Council, said the church is losing 1,000 parishioners per week. "Only one in three Episcopalians attends a parish church on a weekly basis. Membership in all 110 dioceses of the Episcopal Church totaled 2,320,506 in 2006, down 2.2%, or 51,502, from 2,372,008 in 2005. That's the equivalent of 1,000 Episcopalians walking away from the Episcopal Church each week. There is no indication it will turn around any time soon, if ever. Since 2007, the decline has only accelerated."

Re hospitality. This is another great Episcopal fiction. There are countless stories of people (outsiders) who have attended Episcopal churches only to leave unspoken too, ignored, or invited to tithe without so much as a handshake. If there is a greeter, initially, it rarely spills over into follow up by the priest. If one should show any disapproval of a sermon, then one is often invited not to return. I have read literally hundreds of e-mails over the years of orthodox Episcopalians made to feel unwelcome at parishes that show a bias towards inclusive sexual behavior. If a couple indicates a preference towards a biblical worldview on sexuality, they are often invited not to return.

Furthermore, hospitality has died for nearly all Anglo-Catholics in TEC. They have been stripped of their Prayer Book and had women's ordination foisted on them, against their consciences. With all but a handful of parishes left in the church, how long will it be before Bonnie Anderson, President of the House of Deputies, begins her "inclusive" tap dance routine with the remaining TEC evangelicals. Already, she has made unwelcome forays into the dioceses of Albany and South Carolina. Will Central Florida, Western Kansas, Western Louisiana be next?

Contemplation. Whatever this means, it is hard to know. Episcopalians do not have much of a contemplative side as much as, say, Roman Catholics, who have a contemplative tradition, unless Episcopal retreats for contemplation are set up for special occasions.

Embracing diversity. Herein lies a singular truth. The Episcopal Church has indeed embraced diversity with disastrous consequences. For its "diversity" sins, TEC has lost four dioceses, more than 100,000 Episcopalians (and climbing), some 700 parishes and will "embrace" a new orthodox Anglican province on its soil, whether it likes it or not.

Ms. Bass simply doesn't get it. She believes the Law of Non-Contradiction can be lifted and The Episcopal Church will grow when all the available evidence shows the exact opposite. A non-biblical church preaching "another gospel" can only lead to spiritual death. That is an incontrovertible truth.

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