Scoring Points
Many seem to be trying to make hay out of the upcoming meeting between the Archbishop of Canterbury and our House of Bishops. The latest to join the fray is John Shelby Spong, retired Bishop of Newark, whose name and perennial reputation places him at the center of the Anglican equivalent of Godwin's Law.
A word to Bishop Spong from a (not so humble) parish priest: No thank you!
While many of us who agree with Bishop Spong on some matters and disagree with him on others have learned to tune out his condescending style, at this stage, I frankly cannot see how this point scoring is helpful. In fact, I worry that it undermines the very witness that is needed to effectively address the concerns that I and many others share with him.
There are so many better counterpoints to play against the hateful rhetoric that has been spewing forth in recent days. All the best prayers for our House of Bishops and the Archbishop of Canterbury in that regard.
A word to Bishop Spong from a (not so humble) parish priest: No thank you!
While many of us who agree with Bishop Spong on some matters and disagree with him on others have learned to tune out his condescending style, at this stage, I frankly cannot see how this point scoring is helpful. In fact, I worry that it undermines the very witness that is needed to effectively address the concerns that I and many others share with him.
There are so many better counterpoints to play against the hateful rhetoric that has been spewing forth in recent days. All the best prayers for our House of Bishops and the Archbishop of Canterbury in that regard.
1 comment:
And yet, Richard---who has had the courage (or even the opportunity?) to tell +Rowan the "truth" from the progressive side?
+Rowan was apparently told that 40% of the American church was ready to bolt TEC because of sexuality issues. He has NOT heard from the vast majority of us who believe that TEC is doing the work of God by working towards full inclusion of LGBTs in the life and ministry of the church.
+Rowan needs to hear the truth about us. It's a shame that +Spong had to be the one to tell it, because he's so polarizing that no one is likely to listen.
But I will not fault him for trying. As I said at Episcopal Cafe, the time for politeness is over. Jesus was never polite when great spiritual matters were at stake, and I would argue that this is one of those times.
If Rowan can't stand to hear what most of the Episcopalians I know are saying about him, he needs to resign and let someone else start leading, instead of hiding behind the false idol of "unity" and sacrificing our LGBT brothers and sisters to the likes of +Akinola and +Orombi.
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