Historic Congregation Leaving Episcopal Church
Our Youth and Worship pastor, Loretta, happened to visit Christ Church in Savannah, Georgia last week. It's where John Wesley pastored briefly, while he was a "missionary" in America. Wesley was followed by George Whitefield.
The vestry of this historic congregation voted September 30 to withdraw from the Episcopal Church and place themselves under the authority of the Bishop of Uganda.
This is in response to a drifting of the Episcopal Church from historic orthodoxy as expressed by the Anglican Communion around the world.
There will be a congregational vote tomorrow, Sunday, Oct 14 during their 11:00 service to express agreement or disagreement with this action.
The Bishop of Georgia isn't too thrilled, but I'm pretty sure both Wesley and Whitefield would enthusiastically endorse these revolutionary renegades.
Wesley would have pitched fevered fit. He was opposed to any split from the Anglican Church...he felt it was necessary to work out all problems.
ReplyDeleteWhitfield on the other hand enjoyed a good schism and would have endorsed it, had he felt the cause righteous.
I LOVE IT. GOOD FOR THEM. Thats awesome that you visited them.
ReplyDeleteVery cool field trip..very cool.
I need to move to Wisconsin...thats where all the creative energy seems to be.
i know many episcoalians who are also upset with the drift of the American Church
ReplyDeleteI am positive there are individuals on both sides of the schism that are adamant about the righteous of his or her position. All of us need to get over the idea that God ONLY talks to the people that agree with us.
ReplyDeleteMark,
ReplyDeleteThere have are two Episcopalian churches in Lexington, KY that removed themselves from the American Communion. One went under the Bishop of Uganda, the other under the Bishop of Rawanda (the difference is in the ordination of women - one does, the other doesn't and I can't remember which was which). In the last few years I heard an NPR story that commented on a radical shift in the worldwide Anglican Communion. Evidently, there is a marked move toward the theological right! Many Africans and Asian Anglican Bishops came to faith through evangelical ministries in their native countries and their views reflect that. In the 2000 international Anglican conference (similar to the Quadrennial deal we Wesleyans attend), there was quite a stir about that shift.
DT