More sadness in Anglican Land

Alright – if you have a sensitivity to forthright discussion in the Episcopal/Anglican Church, do not read this.  But on top of an active lesbian being confirmed as a bishop in the Episcopal Church,  Fr. Longenecker has this post about a traditional Episcopalian community being railroaded out of its property by the Episcopal diocese of Central New York.  The diocese refused offers by the traditional, Scripture observing community to buy the property at a generous price when the community decided it could no longer remain in the Episcopal church, and instead sold the property to Muslims at 1/3 the asking price.  In the process, they kicked the pastor out of the rectory on zero notice, and closed a soup kitchen depended upon by locals, with no notification that a Catholic Church down the street had agreed to allow the former Episcopalians to use their facilities to provide food for the poor.  Some local people went hungry for several days/nights as a result.  Christian charity truly abounds.

Lord knows, the Catholic Church has problems.  All churches are made up of fallible, sinful human beings, who often do really bad things, like turning young boys into animalistic objects for their sexual gratification.  It is still very sad to see an instance like this in the Episcopal Church, where there appears to have been vindictiveness and wrath involved.  And the extremely poor prudential judgement to then a) bar the property from ever being sold for Anglican/Catholic worship and, b) selling it to Muslims, who have a faith that doesn’t just call homosexuality a sin, but feels people should be killed over it……..what were they thinking?  What kinds of motivations would lead to judgements like this?  It is difficult for me to find examples of Christian virtue displayed here. 

I don’t know what the intentions are of the community that got railroaded out of its home.  They have apparently been offered a property by the Catholic diocese and have occupied it, but I do not know if they intend to convert.  I know there are people who have a very strong attachment to the Episcopal/Anglican Church, and I feel very badly for them.  I know some of them find the idea of converting to Catholicism difficult to even contemplate, and so they are left in a very bad position – remaining in a church that is rapidly going off the rails, trying to give witness to the increasing worldliness of their compatriots, or somehow striking out on their own and carving out a new church in the Episcopal tradition that remains faithful to the beliefs their faith has held for centuries.   We all need to pray for our Episcopalian brothers and sisters – pray that this time of great strain and sadness will pass, pray that they may remain faithful to the teachings God has given us in the Bible, and pray that they will continue to have, or find, a home that allows them to worship God in great awe and wonder.  I of course pray for their conversion, if not to the Catholic faith, at least to a great reverence and service to God.