Parishioners and members of the public converged on St. John's Episcopal Church Friday afternoon for a dialogue on issues that seldom arise at regular worship services.
As part of a tour of New Hampshire, Katherine Jefferts Schori, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States, addressed issues ranging from a lack of participation in some organized religions, men and women in religious leadership roles, interfaith dialogues and a slew of other matters affecting Episcopal and Anglican churches.
And how many friendly people “converged” for this friendly meeting? This many:
"We live in a time of profoundly rapid change," said Schori to the audience of more than 100 people before opening a question-and-answer session.
“More than 100” people?? That’s it? In "New Thing" friendly New Hampshire? I mean, I know New Hampshire can be somewhat sparsely populated, but honestly. It's the Presiding Bishop, for polity's sake! You'd get 100 people from my parish, an ACN parish, showing up just out of respect for the office. Shouldn't all that with-it relevance, with its focus on inclusiveness and UN goals, be packing ‘em into the pews?
I mean, even The Simple Country Bishop, the church’s very own cause celeb, was there:
V. Gene Robinson, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire, who was at the Friday afternoon event, was not invited to attend the Lambeth Conference but attended anyway. Robinson is the first openly homosexual bishop to be ordained in the church.
Heck, he usually draws 100-plus in just his press pool alone. And speaking of The Simple Country Bishop, well, The Former Bishop of Nevada didn’t:
His ordination was not explicitly addressed during the presentation and question session.
But the Main Focus Of The Church was, of course, addressed:
Betty Lane, a Dover resident who identified herself as a lesbian, asked Schori to speak about the dialogue within the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion that relates to gay, lesbian and transgender community members.
In response, Schori first mentioned that no resolutions were passed about issues related to gay, lesbian and transgender people at the Lambeth Conference, but that the subject did come up in conversation.
Schori said that several parts of the Anglican Church currently have beliefs about faith and religion that correspond to societal ideals that were more widespread in the past, but that the church community as a whole is changing.
And how does The Former Bishop Of Nevada justify inflicting that radical change on the rest of the Anglican Communion? By redefining her position as the moderate one:
"There is a middle in the Anglican Communion that is really committed to this conversation," said the bishopi.
If that is the "middle," then who the heck is to her Left??? And let's be frank - this ain't a conversation. It's a minority of the Anglican Communion demanding that they alone define what is moral and what isn't, what God is and what God isn't, and what Christianity is, and what it isn't.
But Ms. Lane is OK with that:
After the presentation, Lane said she was pleased to hear Schori's response, citing a cultural and community inclusiveness in which members of the church can reach out.
How is all that inclusive reaching out been working out for you? Oh yeah; only 100 people show up to a meeting with the Presiding Bishop.
"We need to have that cultural sensitivity for people," said Lane, an Episcopalian, as dozens of attendees made their way to a reception at the parish rectory next door.
But that cultural sensitivity seems to extend only to people in our own Church who The Former Bishop of Nevada and her friends agree with. For the rest of us, it's shut up or sod off, thank you very much. (And leave your valuables at the door.)
So in the end, ask yourself - how healthy is a Church when it's national leader can only draw "more than 100" in very friendly territory, and only "dozens" want to stay and attend a reception with her afterward?
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