Via TitusOneNine:
Thursday, Aug. 13, 2009
By BRUCE SMITH - Associated Press Writer
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina, increasingly disenchanted with the direction of the national Episcopal Church, on Thursday called a convention to discuss the future of the conservative diocese.
"Frankly, I don't know how to say this in any other way but to tell you that this is a call to action; of mobilization of clergy, parishes and laity," the Very Rev. Mark Lawrence said in a speech released after he delivered it to clergy representing 75 parishes in the lower and eastern part of the state.
Last month, the national church, during its California convention, authorized bishops to bless same-sex unions. The Episcopal Church consecrated its first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, in 2003.
The bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina, increasingly disenchanted with the direction of the national Episcopal Church, on Thursday called a convention to discuss the future of the conservative diocese.
"Frankly, I don't know how to say this in any other way but to tell you that this is a call to action; of mobilization of clergy, parishes and laity," the Very Rev. Mark Lawrence said in a speech released after he delivered it to clergy representing 75 parishes in the lower and eastern part of the state.
Last month, the national church, during its California convention, authorized bishops to bless same-sex unions. The Episcopal Church consecrated its first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, in 2003.
Just three weeks after the Episcopal Church lifted a de facto moratorium on approving gay bishops, a Chicago priest in a committed same-sex relationship has been named one of three nominees for Bishop of Minnesota.
The Rev. Bonnie Perry, rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in the Ravenswood neighborhood, announced the nomination to parishioners in a statement on Sunday. A certified kayak instructor, she is out of the country on a long-planned kayaking trip and unavailable for comment.
"As we all continue to discern God's call, I pray that we will bear witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ that changes people's lives and proclaims the profound inclusivity and hospitality of God," she told parishioners in her statement.
Two Episcopal priests in same-gender relationships are among the nominees for assistant bishop of Los Angeles, officials said Sunday.
The Rev. John L. Kirkley of San Francisco and the Rev. Mary Douglas Glasspool of Maryland will be among six candidates on the ballot when lay people and clergy vote in December, despite a long-standing request from world Anglican leaders for a moratorium on consecrating openly gay bishops.
Los Angeles Bishop Jon Bruno said in a statement Sunday that he was "pleased by the wide diversity" of the nominees. Separately, the Diocese of Minnesota on Saturday announced that a lesbian was among its three candidates for bishop. That election is set for October 31.
In the early '70s, comedian Flip Wilson created a character for his NBC television program called "Reverend Leroy" of "The Church of What's Happenin' Now." Like some contemporary "reverends," Reverend Leroy was a con artist who, among other things, once took up an offering to go to Las Vegas, explaining he had to study sin in order to effectively preach against it.
Reverend Leroy would feel right at home in the modern Episcopal Church, which recently voted at its denominational meeting in Anaheim, Calif., to end the ban on the ordination of gay bishops and permit marriage "blessings" for same-sex couples.
Denominational leaders explained they are attempting to stem the exodus from their church by embracing a new doctrine they call "inclusivity," which they hope will attract young people.
"We face a multitude of false teachings, which like an intrusive vine, is threatening the Episcopal Church," Lawrence said. "I have called this the false Gospel of Indiscriminate Inclusivity because I see a common pattern in how the core doctrines of our faith are being systematically deconstructed."
In 2006, the Diocese of South Carolina and two others opposing consecration of gay bishops voted to reject the authority of the national church's presiding bishop, but stopped short of a full break with the church.
But this June, four breakaway conservative dioceses formed a rival national province to the Episcopal Church called the Anglican Church in North America.
Lawrence called on South Carolina parishes to discuss the issues facing the church before sending delegates to an Oct. 24 convention in Mount Pleasant.
He said while some would suggest cutting ties with the national church, others would caution patience.
"While I have no immediate solution to the challenges we face, it is certainly neither a hasty departure nor a paralyzed passivity I counsel," he said. "Either of these I believe, regardless of what godly wisdom they may be for others, would be for us a false peace and a fatal security."
He said the diocese needs a place to both survive and thrive.
"There is also a need to find ways to support conservative parishes and missions in dioceses where there is isolation or worse," he said. "I would like to encourage congregations in this diocese to create missional relationships with 'orthodox' congregations isolated across North America."
Lawrence also said he would work with any parish feeling it no longer wants to stay in the conservative South Carolina diocese.
"This is not my desire for any parish," he said, but added "pastoral sensitivity suggests I should give space to those who feel they need it."
The 2.3 million-member Episcopal church is the U.S. branch Anglican Communion, a 77 million-member communion that is the third-largest group of churches worldwide, behind the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian churches.
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