Is the Episcopal Church a Frothing Water Feature?

Is the Episcopal Church a frothing water feature? Foaming attractively for the amusement of shoppers in the mallspace of American religion but going, ultimately, nowhere?

Here's the Dean of Virginia Theological Seminary, Ian Markham, gushing from General Convention about the Episcopal Church:

"So why is this General Convention going to be historic? It is because we offer a “product” that our age needs and wants; the immediate cultural war is coming to an end; and we now have leadership in the Church that is ready to be imaginative about our programming for the future. I am confident that in 50 years’ time, the General Convention of 2015 will be the moment that historians identify as the turning moment in the fortunes of The Episcopal Church."

This is Markham foaming about culture:

"now The Episcopal Church is where the majority of Americans are (especially the younger demographic). Large evangelical megachurches are very aware of how they will alienate the young if they are too overtly hostile to the inclusion of gays and lesbians. Being pro-gay is good in modern America; and as we have seen with the Supreme Court decision last week, the affirmation of equality embedded in the American story from its founding finally reaches our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters."

Right on, Ian. All the secular liberals and the people that just don't care are going to start flocking to your gay church. Really? Just like they did with the ordination of women? Maybe you remember how that was going to fill the pews, and dismally didn't.

The Episcopal Church has lost over a quarter of its worshiping attendance in the last decade, some 200,000 people. Let's see if Markham's froth and foam will turn that around.

Your Pal,

LSP

The Mind of the House of Bishops Bonking

I went searching for the mind of the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church, and I found it in an atrium, in Salt Lake City.

A Bonking Wind Chime

I heard bonking, somewhere up above me, and looked up. There it was! The mind of the House of Bishops!

The House of Bishops

The bonking wind chimes have just passed Resolution A036, making the marriage canons of their church gender neutral.

Well done, team.

LSP

Irenicon

OK, that's enough Rainbow Unicorn awesomness for now. Here's sa pic from Salt lake City instead. I like the covered malls downtown and think it's a neat use of space.

Speaking of which, everyone seems happy in the mallspace. Perhaps that's because they're rich, or they haven't checked the prices, or maybe they're just happy to be knocking about.

Whatever the case, have a blessed Sunday.

I'm off to church.

LSP

The Episcopal Church's Long March to Gaydom

Everyone knows that the once respectable Episcopal Church has gone gay and that they're mirroring the US Supreme Court. I guess their tax exempt status will remain intact.

Via Virtueonline:

As the 78th Convention of the Episcopal Church prepares to enact legislation that will enshrine gay marriage in its internal laws, or canons, church leaders expressed satisfaction that this would be the culmination of 39 years of pro-gay activism.

In response to the Supreme Court's ruling on gay marriage, Rev. Brian Baker, Chair of the Convention's Marriage Resolutions Committee, announced to the Press that the Episcopal Church had "been having a conversation around this for 40 years," and that "today was a significant, monumental day."

The President of the House of Deputies, Rev. Gay Jennings, agreed with Baker. This was "a momentous day," she said, "General Convention has adopted over a period of 39 years, advocacy for the support of... civil rights for all citizens."

****

Quite the march, eh? But bear this in mind, the Episcopal Church lost 200,000 people between 2003-2013 and that shows no sign of slowing.

How many will be left to enjoy the Pink Rainbow Utopia?

Your Pal,

LSP

The Mysticke Rainbow, or Scalia Gets it Right

Here's Scalia on the new mysticism of the law:

"If, even as the price to be paid for a fifth vote, I ever joined an opinion for the Court that began: ‘The Constitution promises liberty to all within its reach, a liberty that includes certain specific rights that allow persons, within a lawful realm, to define and express their identity,’ I would hide my head in a bag. The Supreme Court of the United States has descended from the disciplined legal reasoning of John Marshall and Joseph Story to the mystical aphorisms of the fortune cookie."

Scalia's referring to yesterdays SCOTUS decision to go gay; he might just as well have been describing the theology of the Episcopal Church.

Ad Astra,

LSP

Supreme Court Goes Gay, Episcopalians Rejoice

If you want a vision of the future Winston, imagine a rainbow wellie boot stamping on a human face forever.

There was a lot of crying on the floor of the General Convention today, tears of joy, as the Supreme Court's decision to get gay percolated through to the delegates in Salt Lake City's Pillar of Salt Palace. 

Within hours, the Episcopaliens were living it up at a Eucharist presided over by the world's first ever lesbian bishop, Mary Glasspool.

Via Virtueonline:

Following the news of the Supreme Court's 5-4 June 26 ruling that gay marriage is a constitutional right, delegates to the church's 78th Episcopal General Convention worshipped at a Eucharist celebrated by the partnered lesbian bishop, the Rt. Rev. Mary Glasspool, here in the Salt Palace.

Glasspool was consecrated on December 4, 2009, as the assisting Bishop of Los Angeles and the world's first ever partnered lesbian bishop.

After moving joyously to an opening liturgy set to jazz and swing, rejoicing worshippers sat to hear a sermon by the President of the Deputies, Rev. Gay Jennings. Speaking to John 17, and St. John of Patmos, Jennings spoke eloquently of the need for mystical language to express heavenly truths. The "suitcase of human comprehension is not big enough for the concepts Jesus has to stuff into it," she told listeners, to laughter and applause.

You can read the whole thing here if you like, and as you do, ponder the nature of a court that's higher than the one ensconced in Washington DC.

Some feel a Rubicon has been crossed.

Civil Disobedience,

LSP

Presiding Bishop Ignores Jihad

Is the outgoing Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, shy of Jihad and the ongoing persecution of Christians by Muslims? 

Via Virtueonline:

In her sermon at the opening Eucharist at this year's 78th General Convention, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts Schori, drew attention to murder, oppression, and suffering in the U.S., Africa, the Caribbean, and elsewhere. She ignored the brutal and, in modern times, unprecedented persecution of Christians by Muslims, which some commentators believe amounts to genocide.

You can read the whole thing here, and while you're at it, ask yourself why Jefferts Schori gave an old Brazilian occultist a look-in, but passed over the tens of thousands of Christians who have been driven from their homes; to say nothing of those crucified, beheaded, raped, enslaved and killed by Islamists.

Maybe she ignored that because, you know, Islam is the Religion of Peace.

ISIS Laughs,

LSP

Hillary

Presented without comment.

LSP

Gay Jennings Tells General Convention to Repent of White Privilege!!

Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, who is white, told the Episcopal Church that it had to repent of something called "white privilege" and, of course, racism.

Via Virtueonline:

During a heartfelt opening address to the 78th General Convention of the Episcopal Church (TEC), the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, President of the Convention's House of Deputies, called on the Church to repent of "white privilege" and "racism."

During her opening address to the General Convention in Salt Lake City, Rev. Gay Clark Jennings told assembled delegates that the Episcopal Church had to look outside of itself and repent of failing to end a raft of hot-button progressive left issues, such as gun violence, discrimination, inequality, white privilege and racism.

You can read the whole thing here, and if you do, ask yourself how many Episcopalians will be left to end white privilege, inequality and racism.

 

Hint, TEC has lost over a quarter (200,000 persons) of its Sunday attendance in the last 10 years.

Your Friend,

LSP

Katharine Schori Launches into Space, in Salt Lake City

The outgoing Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church told General Convention delegates this morning that her denomination is on a journey into intergalactic space.

Via Virtueonline:

The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts Schori, opened the Church's 78th General Convention, by inviting the assembled delegates to travel to a new galaxy of "interdependence" after a recent Episcopal history marked by "warring, chaos," and "collateral damage."

After referring to the Task Force for Reimagining the Episcopal Church (TREC), Jefferts Schori told her listeners to "warp up and get moving." The Presiding Bishop continued to borrow language from the hit T.V. series, Star Trek, to describe the mission of the denomination.

"We're bound for the galaxy called Galilee," said Schori, "And the edges of the known world, because that's where Jesus sent us and that's where he promises to meet us. The journey is likely to be a long one, in spite of the glimpses of heaven around us. We will measure this journey in light-years, and expect those years to be filled with growing awareness of the light of the world."

You can read the whole thing here, and while you're at it, reflect on her use of "interdependent" and "holographic."

Your Correspondent,

LSP

Bonking at General Convention

So what's it like at TEC's General Convention? According to today's House of Deputies News:

"When you walk through the main entrance to the Salt Palace convention center you might be startled by a wooden bonking sound."

The "bonking sound" is caused by "wind chimes," apparently.

I won't comment.

In other news, guns are "prohibited" at GC15. Good thing I left all mine at home then, isn't it.

Shoot straight,

LSP

Go On, Fly To Salt Lake City -- GenCon15

I packed my bags, put on a blazer, and flew to Salt Lake City. So why'd you do that, LSP? You ask wonderingly Just for kicks? No, although SLC is a neat little mountain town with an interesting light rail system and a weirdly utopian air. 

Typical SLC Supermarket

No, I'm not here for that, I am here to help cover the Episcopal Church's General Convention. They'll be electing a new Presiding Bishop, discussing ways to "restructure" (downsize) their failing operation, and, of course, approve gay marriage rituals without having to change the heterosexist Prayer Book.

Room with a View

There's some other cool stuff too, like fighting "extremism" (Jihad) by fighting The Weather and funding LGBT advocacy in Africa. But more of that anon.

So stay tuned.

LSP