One doesn’t have to be Episcopalian to be fascinated by the impending train wreck that church is turning into:
For about 30 years, the Episcopal Church has been one big unhappy family. Under one roof there were female bishops and male bishops who would not ordain women. There were parishes that celebrated gay weddings and parishes that denounced them; theologians sure that Jesus was the only route to salvation, and theologians who disagreed.
Now, after years of threats, the family is breaking up.
As many as eight conservative Episcopal churches in Virginia are expected to announce today that their parishioners have voted to cut their ties with the Episcopal Church. Two are large, historic congregations that minister to the Washington elite and occupy real estate worth a combined $27 million, which could result in a legal battle over who keeps the property.
(…)
?The Episcopalian ship is in trouble,? said the Rev. John Yates, rector of The Falls Church, one of the two large Virginia congregations, where George Washington served on the vestry. ?So we?re climbing over the rails down to various little lifeboats. There?s a lifeboat from Bolivia, one from Rwanda, another from Nigeria. Their desire is to help us build a new ship in North America, and design it and get it sailing.?
Clearly, it would seem, the decision has already been made even though the vote won’t be announced until today. While I don’t have a dog in this fight, I do find it interesting that, notwithstanding the supposed liberalization of America, there are a sizable number of people in the Episcopal Church who don’t like the direction things have been going and are willing to do something about it.
