Episcopal Church and Homosexuality

[estesbob]

Wow wow wow, the Protestant church ARE still against homosexuality.
The Free Church of Scotland has never, and never will marry a gay couple.
Going back to catholisism because of that? Why not try going to a proper Protestant church?
There are FAR more serious issues in Catholisism.

The last post on this thread was 4 years ago

 

[Our_Refuge]

The last post on this thread was 4 years ago

Four years ago but things have gotten worse.

news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080608/ap_on_re/gay_bishop
CONCORD, N.H. - The first openly gay Episcopal bishop and his partner of 20 years have been united in a private civil unionThe Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson was legally joined to Mark Andrew, his partner of 20 years, in a civil ceremony Saturday, the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire announced.

Civil unions became legal in New Hampshire this year.

The union was performed five years to the day after New Hampshire Episcopalians elected him as their bishop.

 

[mdgspencer]

Such deviations from Christian faith in the Episcopal Church or in any church come from the power of the world, overcoming many of members. Of course if there were not a powerful drive in the world for the promotion of gay life, this drive would not be found in the Episcopal Church either. The world is where such deviations come from in my own church as well, the Catholic Church.
Anglicanism has historically been a blend of three different trends, liberalism, an evangelical part, and Anglo-Catholicism, which until recently have all lived peacably together in the same denomination. Towards the beginning of the Twentieth Century Anglo-Catholicism seemed in many ways dominant, but it did not try to take advantage of this when it came to the others. But now for some years liberalism has taken power in this denomination in the West and has begun making furious war on the others, crushing any resistance. I have followed what has been occurring in this church with astonishment. The liberals who have gained control of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church in Britain have ratched up their acts more and more against traditional Christian beliefs (in the US especially), without much concern for the shattering effect of their acts on their church.
I feel great sorrow and mourn the dismay and horror of those in this church, who seek to follow Christ and suffer so, and who I can’t help but admire for their steadfast loyalty to Christian morality.

 

[LutheranDK]

Hello,

I read a disheartening article today in the Washington Post (link below) that seems to allude to the continued acceptance of homosexuality in the Episcopal Church. I am a Protestant (non-denom) who is on his way home to the Catholic Church (starting RCIA this fall) . Frankly, I don’t understand how a church can be so influenced by the social norms of the day that they turn their backs on scripture.

Here is a quote from the article:
“God didn’t stop talking to the church when the Bible was finished,” he said.

Just as women have emerged from the second-class status depicted in the Bible, he added, “the Spirit is teaching us that now about sexuality – that gay and lesbian people are fully children of God and should have access to all the rites of the church.”

One of the reasons I am leaving Protestantism for the RCC is because of the structure/traditional/doctrinal authority that exists in the church. That is the true blessing of the RCC that I finally realized.

Any opinions on how Homosexuality has slipped into the Episcopal Church and may start to influence other denominations as well? I recently heard that the Methodists have started to explore a softer stand as well. Is this consequence owed solely to multiple denominations without one clear direction or is society, etc to blame?

I don’t know that much about the structure of the Episcopal chruch. But I would assume that if a Pastor does not oppose this activity openly in his church (luckily mine did), then a layperson could “interpret” the issue on their own and justify it (lack of church teachings, unlike RCC).

washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20779-2004Jun6.html

I totally agree with your critizism of this newest abomination from a so-called “church”, but going to Rome to escape that is like jumping out of from your office window on the 3rd floor because another employee is negligent in the performance of his duties.

Only go to Rome if you believe that the points that the Reformers made are incorrect. Don’t go because of some infidel that has infiltrated the ranks of a “church”. Any honest RC can tell you that there’s been a number of those as popes (and Alexander VI is just one that springs to mind). They may not have said anything like this in public, but their lives speaks volumes, and the word for such a practise (claiming to be just and upright, while doing the exact opposite) is simply hypocracy (typo).
And no - I’m not bashing Roman Catholics with this post…

Now, the reason why this kind of liberal “theology” has sneaked into the Episcopal church, and threatened to spread beyond?
I don’t really know enough about American church history to answer that question in a satisfactory manner.

 

[9Choirs]

I totally agree with your critizism of this newest abomination from a so-called “church”, but going to Rome to escape that is like jumping out of from your office window on the 3rd floor because another employee is negligent in the performance of his duties.

Only go to Rome if you believe that the points that the Reformers made are incorrect. Don’t go because of some infidel that has infiltrated the ranks of a “church”. Any honest RC can tell you that there’s been a number of those as popes (and Alexander VI is just one that springs to mind). They may not have said anything like this in public, but their lives speaks volumes, and the word for such a practise (claiming to be just and upright, while doing the exact opposite) is simply hypocracy (typo).
And no - I’m not bashing Roman Catholics with this post…

Now, the reason why this kind of liberal “theology” has sneaked into the Episcopal church, and threatened to spread beyond?
I don’t really know enough about American church history to answer that question in a satisfactory manner.

Firstly, the behaviour of any past Popes is never a reflection of their inability to infallibly speak on the topics on faith and morals- ever. Peter denied Jesus three times after Jesus had made him the Rock which His Church would be built on, yet all Christians still hold him in high regard despite him denying Jesus in his most desperate time of need, and Catholics don’t regard his denial of Jesus to have negated his primacy over the other apostles or the authority Jesus assigned to him.

**Unlike Protestant denominations, the Catholic Church is defined from the top down. Doctrine originates from the top (Magisterium) and not from the bottom (the laity) so the behaviour of those who purport to be Catholic have ZERO reflection on what the Church teaches. At least 90% of Catholics in America use artificial birth control. This does not mean that the Catholic Church accepts such as a practice as the Magisterium has declared that birth control is intrinsically immoral. What the Church teaches and what those who define themselves as Catholic put into practice can often be miles apart, yet this has no impact on the purity and authenticity on the doctrine which emanates from the top so the point your made in your second paragraph is pretty much invalid. **

I do agree however that the OP should only make their way home to Rome only if he/she sees sufficient evidence that the Church is the one Church that Jesus built and not the 33/35 thousand Christian denominations who all claim to teach the truth, although their doctrines which are produced by fallible men (that’s if they even have doctrines) differ from each other quite considerably.

Ave Maria

 

[chris_molter]

Only go to Rome if you believe that the points that the Reformers made are incorrect.

I second this. One of the Cardinals (I forget which) said that coming into the Church must be a positive step, not a negative one. In other words, just running away from your current church is a bad reason to “Pope”; you should be coming into the Catholic Church because you believe she is what she claims to be.

That being said, the path many mainline denominations are going down is causing a lot of folks to take a serious look at Catholicism (and Orthodoxy) and many of them come into the Church for the right reasons. Others are splintering into new church structures or changing denominations.

 

[estesbob]

I second this. One of the Cardinals (I forget which) said that coming into the Church must be a positive step, not a negative one. In other words, just running away from your current church is a bad reason to “Pope”; you should be coming into the Catholic Church because you believe she is what she claims to be.

That being said, the path many mainline denominations are going down is causing a lot of folks to take a serious look at Catholicism (and Orthodoxy) and many of them come into the Church for the right reasons. Others are splintering into new church structures or changing denominations.

My wife is a convert from the Episcopal Church. one of the things that attracted her to our Faith was the consistency of Church teachings over the years. She attended a very liberal Episcopal Church and couldnt understand how things she was taught before were sins were now suddenly OK.