"Deja Vu all over again" (as Yogi liked to say). From Time Magazine Feb. 13 1978. Notice the name of the new province.
Ever since the Episcopal Church's General Convention voted in favor of women priests and a modernized Prayer Book in 1976, angry U.S. traditionalists have been laying plans for a breakaway. All efforts at Episcopal peacemaking proved unavailing, and now the schism is a fact.
The break became final when four new bishops were consecrated in Denver's Augustana Lutheran Church on Jan. 28 to lead the self-styled "Anglican Church of North America." Staying in the Episcopal Church, said one of the four later, "is like giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a corpse." The fiery consecration sermon by the Rev. George Rutler of Rosemont, Pa., compared the new bishops to Moses for leading their people out of the Episcopal Egypt. After a service of nearly three hours, the solemn congregation burst into applause as the resplendently robed and mitered clergymen were declared to be bishops.
But are they? Since the Council of Aries in 314, tradition has called for three existing bishops to perform new consecrations. Only two appeared in Denver: Albert A. Chambers, retired Episcopal bishop of Springfield, Ill., and Bishop Francisco J. Pagtakhan of the Philippine Independent Church, which is furious with its U.S. cousins for ordaining women priests. Without the customary three, the consecrations are under a cloud. There have been exceptions, but only in emergencies. Augustine, who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in 597, was told by the Pope to consecrate bishops by himself because there were no others to assist him in England.
The rest is here-
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,915926,00.html
1 comment:
George Rutler went to Rome in 1980. He's now at Church of Our Savior on 38th and Park Avenue, New York City, I believe.
What makes today profoundly different is that the new province is made up of a remarkable and diverse gathering of evangelicals and Anglo Catholics, some reformed and some charismatic and some traditional. It is a truly inclusive gathering - but not without it's issues, which of course, is why I remain Episcopalian. I still hope we can find a better way to do this - even for the short term.
The smartest thing that TEC could have done is just ignore us instead of sue us (which is how the North handled the South during and after the Civil War - the North held a General Convention and marked the southern dioceses absent, and if anyone had reason to sue and defrock it would be the Northerners during the Civil War, what with southern bishops actually becoming Confederate generals and killing people, it just boggles the mind!). It's not that bad now. Could just mark us absent until we tear each other apart and either come back or go to Rome.
Unless things aren't going so well inside TEC either. That strategy denotes a strong inner core for the 815 led Episcopal Church, and I'm not sure that's actually present. What do you think?
With TEC continually suing and defrocking, it does help everyone outside the TEC structures get along (but perhaps doesn't help with the TEC image). It's like TEC has taken the position of George III. Might want to rethink that.
-Mary
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