Still interested in ECUSA...
Those of us dodging bullets down here in the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas have just emerged from a weekend of regional convention. Fr. WB was busy running around with various other young power brokers in the communion, and although I cannot imagine why anyone would try to keep up with News That Makes Your Head Spin, you can get a quick and thorough overview of the weekend's various Diocesan conventions at Titus One Nine, here.
Do note that they quote Fr. WB. His blog traffic is going through the roof.
(Here is his profound excerpt. The dear man is rummaging through my fridge as I write this, and I am enormously proud of him.)
I will let you in on a secret: this is the source of all the confusion: the word “church” is used in reference to ECUSA, when its not really apt. There are different senses of the word “church.” There is the thing on the corner, made of brick. There is the “Baptist Church.” There is the “Church of England.” There is the “Anglican Church.” And there is the “One, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.” Etc. Guess which one of these the Lord was talking about when he held up “unity” as a virtue. Here’s a hint. It starts with an “O” and ends in an “ne, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.”
A guy at docesan convention today got up and talked about how he was “Confirmed” into ECUSA, and how meaningful that was. Well, that’s very moving. But, sir, it is ignorant to think that you were confirmed (or baptized, or ordained) “into” ECUSA. You are ordained into THE ONE (holy, etc.) Church. And ECUSA is, at best, a PART of it. I would argue its ceasing to be even that.
That’s the crux of the thing. And why ECUSA unity is expendable. Because a dissunited ECUSA is necessary for a united Holy Catholic Church. What did the Lord say? He prayed for the unity of the Apostles, and “for those who believe in me through their [the Apostles’] word…” (John 17.20). That means the Lord’s prayer of unity was that the Apostles would be united and that those who have a unity of faith in the apostles’ teaching would likewise be united. And that is exactly what ECUSA has repudiated, and the repudiation ECUSA has ratified: the One faith through the Apostles’ teaching. Other words for that teaching are “scripture” and “tradition.”
Do note that they quote Fr. WB. His blog traffic is going through the roof.
(Here is his profound excerpt. The dear man is rummaging through my fridge as I write this, and I am enormously proud of him.)
I will let you in on a secret: this is the source of all the confusion: the word “church” is used in reference to ECUSA, when its not really apt. There are different senses of the word “church.” There is the thing on the corner, made of brick. There is the “Baptist Church.” There is the “Church of England.” There is the “Anglican Church.” And there is the “One, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.” Etc. Guess which one of these the Lord was talking about when he held up “unity” as a virtue. Here’s a hint. It starts with an “O” and ends in an “ne, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.”
A guy at docesan convention today got up and talked about how he was “Confirmed” into ECUSA, and how meaningful that was. Well, that’s very moving. But, sir, it is ignorant to think that you were confirmed (or baptized, or ordained) “into” ECUSA. You are ordained into THE ONE (holy, etc.) Church. And ECUSA is, at best, a PART of it. I would argue its ceasing to be even that.
That’s the crux of the thing. And why ECUSA unity is expendable. Because a dissunited ECUSA is necessary for a united Holy Catholic Church. What did the Lord say? He prayed for the unity of the Apostles, and “for those who believe in me through their [the Apostles’] word…” (John 17.20). That means the Lord’s prayer of unity was that the Apostles would be united and that those who have a unity of faith in the apostles’ teaching would likewise be united. And that is exactly what ECUSA has repudiated, and the repudiation ECUSA has ratified: the One faith through the Apostles’ teaching. Other words for that teaching are “scripture” and “tradition.”
posted by MM at 7:02 PM
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