This is really, really horrible folks. It is a sick, sick Valentine's Day release from TEc.
The P.B.'s statement defies description. I am left shaking my head in disbelief that a Church leader would utter such nonsense. Presiding Bishop, President of House of Deputies announce 12-member Task Force on the Study of Marriage
The Episcopal Church
Office of Public Affairs
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and President of the House of Deputies the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings have announced the 12 members of the church’s new Task Force on the Study of Marriage.
Approved at the 77th General Convention in July 2012, Resolution A050 called for the creation of a task force of “theologians, liturgists, pastors, and educators to identify and explore biblical, theological, historical, liturgical, and canonical dimensions of marriage.” The group is expected to consult broadly across the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, develop tools for theological reflection and discussion, and make a report to the 78th General Convention in 2015.
“The theology of marriage has evolved over time, with biblical examples including polygamy, concubinage, and other forms of relationship no longer sanctioned in The Episcopal Church,” noted Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori. “We no longer expect that one partner promise to obey the other, that parents give away their children to be married, or that childbearing is the chief purpose of marriage. This task force is charged not only to take the pulse of our current theological understanding of the meaning of marriage, but to assist the faithful in conversation and discernment about marriage, in particular what the Church might hold up as “holy example” of the love between Christ and his Church.”
“The Episcopal Church's theology and practice of marriage has changed significantly over the centuries, and we need to understand more clearly what we as a church mean when we use that word,” President Jennings said. “I am grateful to the twelve leaders who have offered their time and expertise to help the church have a wide-ranging discussion about marriage and respond to the issues raised by the marriage debate in civil society.”
The members of the Task Force on the Study of Marriage are:
The Rev. Brian C. Taylor, chair, Diocese of the Rio Grande
Carolyn M. Chilton, Diocese of Virginia
The Rt. Rev. Thomas C. Ely, Diocese of Vermont
Joan Geiszler-Ludlum, Diocese of East Carolina
The Rev. Gail Greenwell, Diocese of Kansas
The Rev. Tobias S. Haller, Diocese of New York
The Rev. Canon W. (Will) H. Mebane, Jr., Diocese of Ohio
The Rev. J. David Knight, Diocese of Mississippi
The Rev. Dr. Cameron E. Partridge, Diocese of Massachusetts
The Rev. Susan Russell, Diocese of Los Angeles
The Very Rev. Dr. Sylvia A. Sweeney, Diocese of Los Angeles
The Rt. Rev. W. Andrew Waldo, Diocese of Upper South Carolina
Resolution A050 is available in full here.
http://www.generalconvention.org/gc/resolutions?by=number&id=a050
In case any of you don't know this, but the Rev. Susan Russell is an expert on marriage by virtue of being both an Episcopal priest and a gay activist from Pasadena CA. "A past-president of Integrity USA – the 30-year old national Episcopal gay caucus -- she is currently the convener of 'Claiming the Blessing:' a national collaborative ministry focused on the full inclusion of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender baptized into the Episcopal Church." (HuffPo)
Our Bishop Waldo is also an expert on marriage having recently sacrificed marriage on the altar of same sex blessings.
Is there any question as to what the findings of the task force will be?
I think it will find us all headed to Sodom.
Posts
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
ReplyDeleteJesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Matthew 22: 36-40
Simultaneously clear and vague. No wonder it is so difficult to follow.
Anon, I suspect that was an attempt at a loving condemnation of this post. My post is a loving response to my neighbor who is sticking his finger into a live electrical socket. I'll strike him with a stick if I have to in order to protect him from mixing with this motley crew.
ReplyDeleteFirst, please note that I am not the same Anonymous that posted above. Anyway, because I currently reside outside of Boston, I was curious about the individual from this diocese named to the task force. The name Cameron Partridge rang a bell, but I couldn't place it until I googled it. Now I kind of wish I hadn't. Here's a link. http://www.bu.edu/today/2011/new-episcopal-chaplain-a-role-model/
ReplyDeleteThanks Anon 12:12.
DeleteYep another marriage expert to give our bishop another opportunity to listen and grow in acceptance. I wonder if +Waldo is being vetted for a possible P.B. spot. If he passes muster with this group, he will be a shoe in!
"As he takes over the University’s part-time Episcopalian chaplaincy, Partridge, who lives outside Boston with his wife and their toddler son, says he wants to minister with the empathy that has sometimes been denied him since he completed his transition to a man in 2001."
Oh Grow up!
ReplyDeleteNever!
ReplyDelete"May you grow up to be righteous,
May you grow up to be true,
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you.
May you always be courageous,
Stand upright and be strong,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young." Bob Dylan
I am really shocked that the Trans-Species folks have been completely ignored and silenced in this discussion!
ReplyDeleteAnon-III
Anon-III, Cameron Partridge qualifies as trans. I am surprised that there are no polys or bi people represented. There might be a closet nudist or two but they haven't come out yet.
ReplyDeleteA needless and horrible bureaucracy.
ReplyDeleteTrans-species (not gender) See google: Furries
ReplyDeleteFurries? Huh? I have heard the question of whether or not pets go to heaven. The furries raise the question a notch.
ReplyDeleteI'm confused as to why you find this so very horrible. Exactly which part of the PB's statement in bold do you take issue with? Are you under the impression that polygamy, concubinage, or mandatory dowries (all part and parcel of "Biblical marriage") are sanctioned by God?
ReplyDeleteTo release, on Valentine's Day, this committee whose membership in large part mocks traditional Christian marriage (i.e. Tobias Haller who is a gay priest married to his partner in the state of New York), is a twisted cruel joke from the P.B. "Here traditionalists, take this, with love, +KJS."
ReplyDeleteHer statement is also confusing:
“The theology of marriage has evolved over time, with biblical examples including polygamy, concubinage, and other forms of relationship no longer sanctioned in The Episcopal Church,”
This would be more accurate if it said “no longer sanctioned since the words of Christ”
The sentence on its face, in its plain meaning, asserts that the previously referred-to list of relationships were indeed at one time “sanctioned” by The Episcopal Church.
Her statement is inaccurate:
The “theology of marriage” is not to be discerned, because it has been revealed.
“The Episcopal Church’s theology and practice of marriage has changed significantly over the centuries" No it hasn't with the exception of re-marriage, It is only in the past few years that the goal to formalize that change has come some close to fulfillment.
so close not some close
ReplyDelete"The sentence on its face, in its plain meaning, asserts that the previously referred-to list of relationships were indeed at one time “sanctioned” by The Episcopal Church."
ReplyDeleteYou make an excellent point.
"“The Episcopal Church’s theology and practice of marriage has changed significantly over the centuries" No it hasn't with the exception of re-marriage, "
Not absolutely true. We no longer state (as the 1662 BCP says) that the first purpose of marriage is procreation, followed by the prevention of fornication. We no longer require the bride to vow obedience to her husband. Those would seem to be the biggest changes (in addition to the provision for remarriage). There have been other changes in the ceremony that suggest changes in attitude towards marriage (the congregational pledge of support, the mutual exchange of rings), but it could be argued that they only state those attitudes more explicitly .