The note was slipped under the parish office door. Sheree Welsh, a member of the Episcopal church of Our Saviour for 22 years, former Sunday school teacher, cooker of the gumbo for mission and outreach, supper club member, and our volunteer church gardener for the past 10 years, submitted her request to be removed from the rolls of the church this past Monday. When asked for reasons as to why she was leaving, she said that since the Episcopal church has decided to follow a path that will lead to the ordination of non-celibate homosexuals and the blessing of same sex marriages, and since the church has abandoned the Bible as its foundation in order to pursue this path, and since the rector's sermons reflected his commitment to this course, she could no longer support this church. Shaking the mud from her boots, and closing her checkbook, she will be seeking the good soil elsewhere. When asked what she wrote in the note, she said that it simply said, "I believe in the Bible."
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God bless Ms. Welsh and keep her strong on the path.
ReplyDeleteCan such Christian witnessing beget other Christian witnessing?
ReplyDeleteMs. Welsh should be welcome in any Bible-believing congregation.
ReplyDeleteCheers.
John I have something for you,
ReplyDelete"The baby figure of the giant mass of things to come." Troilus and Cressida Quote Act i. Scene 3. Shakespeare
Not sure what "Bible-believing" means here, but this seems to be about social/political issues, not theology. What a shame.
ReplyDeleteThe issue under discussion is whether or not the Bible is the inspired Word of God. And whether or not Episcopalians accept it as such.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting separation between theology and social/political issues is suggested by anon. I thought we were on a social/political crusade for SSBs and GLBTQ ordinations, and that the rather shaky theological attempts at justification, such as the shellfish argument, and "Biblical justice," were the reasons these things could be mentioned during Sunday sermons. I am glad that anon agrees that there is no theological support for these novelties, and that they can be relegated to the purely social and political.
ReplyDeleteIs anon saying that these are issues that do not belong in a religious discussion? Then they should not be raised during a Sunday sermon.
Is anon saying that the Bible is to be set aside when considering these issues? Then what do you do when your priest uses Mark 7 to justify them?
Is Mrs. Welsh's interpretation of the Bible unacceptable, and is she worthy of your unkind kiss off?
When the only new members a church attracts are unwed mothers and gays, it's a dying congregation for sure. It takes diversity to grow a congregation. And a lot of money too - to spread around to support the church so that the other members have a church to attend. If a church chooses to scare off the faithful with money, then the church will fail. The balance has been upset too many times in the past decade. There will be many more Episcopal and Lutheran churches up for sale in the next few years. Unintended consequences, or planned socialist engineering? I want nothing to do with either of these denominations, for no other reason than I don't go to church to be in a fight with other sinners, I come to be in a fight with God - God always wins!
ReplyDeleteSo Annon - what you are saying is that unwed mothers and gays and lesbians are not welcomed by God in his church? Wow! (Dripping with sarcasm)!
ReplyDeleteSigned,
Shocked at the narrow minded among us
Anon #3, I think Anon #2 is not wanting to fight with folks like anon #3.
ReplyDeleteAnon #2 pointedly admits that all of us in God's church are sinners. Those who are fighting to redefine sins of the flesh as not-sins are the provocators, the thorns, and the weeds.