P.B. Curry's "Summer of Love": How did that work out for us in the 60's?

 This came to me in an e-mail.

Scary huh?

I grew up during the original "Summer of Love" in the 1960's. As near as I can tell, that was an utter failure, and we have been suffering the consequences (sexually transmitted diseases, drug addictions, easy divorce, fatherless children, etc...) of the sixties for the past sixty years. 

Therefore, I think Presiding Bishop was asking for trouble with his summer of love if anyone took him seriously, and after looking at the picture above, I doubt that anybody could take him seriously. At least I hope so.

Maybe the expression on his face is because he just read the latest statistics about his failing denomination, and he is trying to put a positive spin on things. 

Jeff Walton has an update on the numbers at Juicy Ecumenism,

"Episcopalians reported 19,716 children and 3,866 adults baptized in 2019, the last full year before COVID restrictions. By 2021, the church reported 14,714 children and 2,136 adults baptized, rebounding slightly to 15,272 children and 2,147 adults in 2022, a 23 percent decline for children and a staggering 45 percent decline in adult baptisms in only three years."

But note,

"...in 2019 there were 26,667 burials, dropping to 23,741 in 2021 and again ticking upward to 25,905 in 2022."

And, 

"In 2019, 6,876 new Episcopalians were received, dropping to 3,649 in 2021 and, again, partly rebounding to 4,106 in 2022, a decline of more than 40 percent."

A dying denomination is one that has more burials than new members coming in. 

Where are all the LGBT+ folks that were supposed to respond to the call of the new gospel (a false one) that the Episcopal organization is preaching?

What about marriage? 

"Marriage rates tanked, despite new rites available to same-sex couples. In 2019 6,484 marriages were solemnized, dropping to 4,592 in 2021 and partly rebounding to 5,562 in 2022, a decline of 15 percent across the three year period. For context, there were 10,394 marriages solemnized in 2013, a drop of 47 percent in less than 10 years."

Society as a whole has weakened the institution of marriage, so we cannot blame the Episcopalians for all of the decline in their marriage numbers.

The fruitless pursuit of a false gospel by the Episcopal organization has produced nothing but thorns and thistles. P.B. Curry will have a lot of "splainin" to do some day.

 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?  Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Therefore by their fruits you will know them." - Matthew 7:15-20