Common Sense Political Thought

If you must make a choice between heresy and schism, always choose heresy…as a heretic, you are only guilty of a wrong opinion… [but as] a schismatic, you have torn and divided the body of Christ. Choose heresy every time. — Bishop Peter J. Lee, of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia

Once again, thanks to Sharon, I went to the GetReligion.org website concerning the slow-motion break-up of the Episcopal Church. The first story was about the efforts of the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia to retain the parish property:

Covering all sides

Following the departures of various parishes, the Episcopal Church is working hard to keep the parish properties from the groups that have joined other Anglican bodies. There has been lots of Washington-area coverage since many of the parishes are from Northern Virginia. But The New York Times’ Brenda Goodman reports on a story out of Savannah, Ga. Here is how it began:

For 274 years, there has been one Christ Church here, and it is a congregation with a proud history.

Started with a land grant from King George of England and led by famous names like John Wesley and George Whitfield, Christ Church has been the spiritual home of some of this city’s most notable residents, including Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts.

So it was unsettling, to say the least, for some longtime members when Christ Church, which is believed to be the first church established in Georgia, voted recently to part ways with the Episcopal diocese it had been a part of for more than 200 years to join an Anglican diocese in Uganda.

“I just feel a tremendous loyalty to this church, and I am confused about this situation,” said Frances R. Maclean, 85, a member of Christ Church for 55 years who saw her children baptized and then married in its century=old chapel. “What is this business about Uganda?”

Nearly nine out of 10 members of the church voted to leave, so I find it interesting that the reporter uses an anecdote from the minority. The story is not about what happens to the losing side in votes to split from national church bodies (a most worthy angle) but, rather, about how the rifts have flooded courts with civil lawsuits over church property. The only other congregant quoted in the piece is likewise part of the minority who voted to remain affiliated with the Episcopal Church.

There is more in the story concerning the legal battles that some parishes and diocese could face if they try to withdraw from the Episcopal Church USA, the American branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and affiliate with an Anglican diocese in Africa. While the article references the Diocese of Pittsburgh, the Diocese of San Joaquin has actually done so:

Episcopal Diocese Secedes From Church
By Jordan Robertson, AP

SAN FRANCISCO (Dec. 9) - The conservative Diocese of San Joaquin voted Saturday to split from the liberal-leaning Episcopal Church, becoming the first full diocese to secede from the denomination in the debate over the Bible and homosexuality.

Clergy and lay members of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin voted 173-22 at their annual convention to remove all references to the national church from the diocese’s constitution, said the Rev. Van McCalister, a diocesan spokesman.

The impetus for all of this is the decision by the Episcopal Church USA to ordain V Gene Robinson, a homosexual Episcopal priest, and Canon of the Ordinary, who had divorced his wife of many years to begin living with another man, to become the Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire. Canon Robinson had been elected bishop by the congregants in New Hampshire, and the Convention had to approve his election, which they did, over serious conservative objections. The ECUSA had been warned by several people that this open defiance of biblical teachings could lead to schism, but chose to proceed anyway.

Now comes this story, again from GetReligion:

Stars align for a June bride

The second story came from gay news site EDGE Miami via NHReligion.com. Reporter Priscilla Greear coovered a speech by openly gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson at a symposium on sex, morality and the law sponsored by a local university.

“I always wanted to be a June bride,” said Bishop Gene Robinson at a talk on Nov. 27 at Nova Southeastern University.

“It may take many years for religious institutions to add their blessing for same-sex marriages and no church, mosque or synagogue should be forced to do so. But that should not slow down progress for the full civil right to marry,” Robinson said. “Because New Hampshire will have legal unions beginning in January, my partner of 20 years and I will enter into such a legal union next June.”

. . . Wearing a raspberry clergy shirt with a cleric collar and pectoral cross, Robinson characterized the “religious right” as close-minded, taking a literal interpretation of Bible condemnation of homosexuality.

“The greatest single hindrance to achievement of full rights for gays and lesbians can be laid at the doorstep of the three Abrahamic faiths — Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It’s going to take people of faith to end discrimination,” said Robinson, who was invested as the ninth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire in 2004.

Even if he’s not using the actual definition of bride (a newly married woman or a woman about to be married), this is huge news. His views on Judaism, Christianity and Islam are also noteworthy. For a mainstream media so obsessed about Episcopal wars, both of these stories help tell the story of why some parishes and dioceses are leaving — and yet neither has been mentioned in the mainstream media yet.

You know, perhaps Bishop Robinson is right, and perhaps the literal meanings of the condemnations of homosexual activity in the Bible are not what God had intended. Perhaps even the requirements to be a bishop, set down in the New Testament:

A bishop must be irreproachable, married only once, of even temper, self-controlled, modest and hospitable. . . . He must be a good manager of his own household, keeping his children under control without sacrificing his dignity; for if a man does not know how to manage his own house, how can he take care of the church of God?¹

somehow don’t apply to Bishop Robinson. I’m not going to get into a theological debate on these points — at least, not in this article.

Rather, I am disturbed by the sheer selfishness of Bishop Robinson. One of the meanings of the word “pastor” is “shepherd,” someone who is supposed to guard his flock. Bishops are supposed to bring people together, to guard the Body of Christ.

Gene Robinson not only didn’t do that, but he has actively tried to divide the flock. He was more than adequately warned that accepting the nomination to become bishop would be divisive. Even if he thought that it wouldn’t really work out that wat when he decided to go ahead, he cannot, at this point, fail to realize that his continued tenure is divisive, as several individual parishes have withdrawn, an entire Episcopal diocese has pulled out and a couple others have moved toward the same action.

The site NHReligion² has several articles on the move toward acceptance of homosexual unions and clergy in the Episcopal Church — and documents some of the developing schisms due to such. Bishop Robinson cannot not know about this slowly-burning firestorm.

Even if he believes that he is on the right side theologically (and I’m sure that he does), why on God’s earth would he throw gasoline on the fire by saying something as stupid as “I always wanted to be a June bride?”

The Episcopal Church came to an agreement with Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the presiding bishop of the Anglican Communion, not to consecrate any more openly homosexual bishops or approve any same-sex union blessings, at least for the time being. Dr Williams, who has generally accommodated homosexual rights, realized that this was a matter which threatened the unity of the Anglican Communion, which, in a word, threatened schism.

Bishop Robinson could, at the very least, avoid engagements like the one he made at a symposium on sex, morality and the law. In his case in particular, he presented himself less as a bishop charged with the pastoral care of his diocese, but as a homosexual rights activist. That may be the role he prefers these days, but it is splitting the Episcopal Church apart.

Do Bishop Robinson’s personal views and desires really outweigh the good of the church, what Anglican theology teaches is the Body of Christ?

I’m afraid that all I can see here is a selfish man, one who is putting his sexual orientation and his political goals ahead of the church he supposedly serves. A bishop who really cared about his church and knew that his presence created schism would resign.

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¹ - 1 Timothy 3:2, 4-5
² - The site does not serarate its articles individually; all that can be linked is the site in general.