Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori made it clear Friday night that she will direct The Episcopal Church to move ahead to reconstitute the Diocese of San Joaquin and to establish control over church property swiftly. In addition, she said, she intends to begin the process of revising the denomination’s canons to allow it to deal more expeditiously with breakaway bishops.
“I expect to see revisions to the canons to deal with situations like the one that you have been living with in San Joaquin for several years,” she said.
It is the “for several years” part that has me mighty worried. So, women’s ordination becomes mandatory, as does non-celibate gay ordination as they are arguing about the Bishop of North Dakota, same sex unions become mandatory, etc.
Western Louisiana, it is time to pack our bags or surrender to the Borg…
Drell's Descants 
>>Western Louisiana, it is time to pack our bags or surrender to the Borg.
Ah, the light dawns. However, and I would be interested in the bylaws of your diocese, most (all?) dioceses require two votes at consecutive conventions on matters like this. As +Schofield pointed out, for DIOSJ it was now or never, as the rules will certainly be changed by the next GC. Drop us a note on how this Collective thing works out.
It is time for “Eastern Louisiana” to pack its bags as well. But, alas, we are distracted with Katrina. Or is it “being” distracted?
At least y’all have the option of leaving as a diocese. Pray for the faithful in Atlanta.
Brad, I bet that you’ve had your bags packed for some time!
It is always a good idea to keep a bag packed. But, more important than having a bag packed is knowing where you are headed when you leave home, that you have a means to get where you are going, and being reasonably confident that where you are going is better than where you currently spend your time.
Fellow orthodox brothers and sisters in Christ, we have known for quite a while that it was only a matter of time before the morphing of TEC would reach the point where we simply had to leave or be swallowed by the morphed being that TEC was becoming. That morphing is continuing for sure and it appears that our PB and her litigator in chief are attempting to increase the rate of morph.
So are we there yet? I do not think so. Are we closer than we were six months ago? I would say yes.
So why do I remain calm? Quite simply, faith. I wish that I had a direct quote from the Bible, but I don’t. Regardless, I’ve got it engrained in my being that God does not give us more to carry than he gives us the strength to undertake. I have a framed synthesis of the 23rd Psalm on a wall of my kitchen that goes like this, “The Lord is my Shepherd; That is all that I need.” I BELIEVE IT!! I believe that I will know when it is time to throw in the towel. I sense that +Bruce will know as well and he may have already signaled that this October’s convention will be the beginning of our jumping off point. If so, this delegate will be ready to vote to split.
God’s peace, love and grace to all.
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It is the “for several years” part that has me mighty worried.
Exactly. Darth Schori isn’t referring to the period of discernment or even the votes to dissociate from TEO. She’s referring to the dissent from Robinson’s consecration. If you’re not on board, you’re in the crosshairs. Period.
AMiA is quite nice, I might add. Been there for four years now.
In answer to the question that heads this post: You can bank on it.
Brad,
I agree, but the real question is will we actually finally DO something? I fear most orthodox here in the diocese have done exactly what the revisionists wanted…given up. What do you think?
You do not need to know where you are going before you go when where you are is no longer safe. Jesus told the disciples to leave when they saw the abomination of desolation. He didn’t tell them where they should go.
As for the peace that comes with faith, well, that peace you can take with you. Have faith that God will take care of you if you act faithfully to separate yourself from the heretics who would try to extinguish the faith.
Everyone will have to reach their own awakening moment. Some on the Titanic didn’t realize it was time to get out untill the freezing North Atlantic waters started flowing into their bath.
Yup, it’s time to leave now. GC 2009 is the drop-dead date, literally, for conservative parishes and dioceses, and it may even come sooner, depending upon what uncanonical maneuvers Jefferts Schori and Beers can get away with. And what they can get away with is a lot, apparently.
Western Louisiana, it is time to pack our bags or surrender to the Borg…
Brad, that is how I’ve felt for several years even being in fort worth. If we can’t pack our bags in Nov., it is time to get on board with the TEC machine.
Kind of like put up or shut up. If we wait any longer, we will be assimilated.
R+
The episcopal “cult” is lost forever. Pack your bags and leave now.
Try to bring the children with you.
Having been part of the Southern Cone for more than a year, I can make a few observations.
There is a healing period.
– It takes a while to realize the TE”c” battle is
no longer yours to fight. A while in my case
was about six months – but occasional
flashbacks occur.
– It takes time to adjust to the reallocation
of all the time previously spent on TE”c”
issues. After a while you start to realize
your ministries are helping a lot of folks much
more than anything you did with TE”c”
There is relief and joy.
– After a period of years, when you stop banging
your head against the sharp corner of an
unyielding wall – it feels good.
When packing your bags, pack lightly. You don’t need much for the journey. Don’t bring stuff you will wish you had left behind.
Don’t look back like Lot’s wife did. She didn’t end up so well.
In response to a recent comment from Gregg Riley, Messages of support for Bishop MacBurney may be sent by email to Network counsel Wicks Stephens. wstephens@acn-us.org
Financial support for the good Bishop’s trial may be sent to the ACN Legal Defense Fund with “Bp. MacBurney” on the memo line. Address:
535 Smithfield Street, Suite 910, Pittsburg, PA 15222.
Imagine you are in mid-Fifth Century Ireland at the time of St. Patrick. There were no diocesan structures. “Priests cared for the people wherever they found them and the bishops travelled like apostles” going where they were needed. This is the crime for which Bishop MacBurney is being tried — going where he was needed.
The quote is from a recent article in The Anglican Digest.
“When packing your bags, pack lightly. You don’t need much for the journey. Don’t bring stuff you will wish you had left behind.”
I would add…Don’t pack for comfort. Carefully evaluate the future value of what you bring. Remember that we all cherished things that contributed to the current shipwreck. The Episcopal Church in 2002, to which many wish to return, was a doomed ship headed toward the iceberg.
Don’t pack with 2002 in mind. Don’t even pack with Elizabeth I in mind. Pack with the Book of Acts in mind.
I just don’t see MacPherson making that move. I know you like the man, but, having ministry experience in WLA under MacPherson, I would bet the pension that MacPherson will not try to get WLA to leave TEC as SJ has done and other dioceses are contemplating.
As Joe Roberts says, stay calm and have faith.
And it’s OK to love and trust your bishop.
But have a contingency plan, and you will sleep better.
Unfortunately, I have no reason not to agree with Jason.
Resistance is futile. . .the way TEC is structured. They ignore the rules until they can change them. This is reality.
Today was the first day of post-retirement from TEC&UNM and I am exploring with eagnerness new opportunities.
Joe Trimble – thanks for the e-mail info for Bishop MacBurney. I encourage all of the orthodox faithful to send him as much support as possible. And yes, the time has come for WLA to decide. GC 09 will close the door once and for all.
Canon G+
Condolences are now in order for Bishop MacBurney and his wife Anne as their son, Page, died late yesterday afternoon. Please keep the MacBurneys in your prayers and pray for the repose of the soul of their son Page.
Canon G+