Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina: The Shift From a Conservative to a Progressive Diocese in Ten Years

The results of a recent survey of clergy and laity from the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina (EDUSC) done as part of a search for a new bishop to succeed Bishop Waldo are in, and if one compares the findings with those obtained eleven years ago (prior to the bishop search that landed us with Waldo), two things are evident,

1. The 2009 search committee asked hard questions, and the results were that EDUSC was a conservative diocese. I posted the results at the time here. 

2. The 2020 survey however asked softball questions and avoided "divisive" issues. The results show that although the aging, lily white, highly educated, upper to upper middle class membership is pretty homogeneous now that EDUSC has lost many conservative voices (Average Sunday attendance dropped from 8,300 to 6,500 during Waldo's tenure), the remnants still consider themselves to be highly diverse politically and socially, and with a couple of exceptions, they seem to want another Bishop or Bishopess Waldo. 

For comparison, read some questions and responses from 2009 followed by examples from 2020's survey.

First, from 2009, 

Our current Bishop and the diocese, in convention, have affirmed that we are a Windsor Diocese. In that light, I believe our next bishop should be supportive of the Windsor Report and the ongoing Windsor process.

48 % Strongly Agree 
20 % Somewhat Agree 
26 % No Opinion 
4 % Somewhat Disagree 
2 % Strongly Disagree

I support the blessing of civil unions (as opposed to marriage) between gay and lesbian persons in the Episcopal Church.

26 % Strongly Agree 

19 % Somewhat Agree 

8 % No Opinion 

10 % Somewhat Disagree 

37 % Strongly Disagree

I support the ordination of partnered gay and lesbian persons in the Episcopal Church.

21 % Strongly Agree 
12 % Somewhat Agree 
7 % No Opinion 
12 % Somewhat Disagree 
48 % Strongly Disagree

I believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, and to contain all things necessary for salvation.

62 % Strongly Agree 
24 % Somewhat Agree 
4 % No Opinion 

7 % Somewhat Disagree 

3 % Strongly Disagree

 I support the marriage of gay and lesbian persons in the Episcopal Church.

17 % Strongly Agree 

11 % Somewhat Agree 

7 % No Opinion 

12 % Somewhat Disagree 

53 % Strongly Disagree

All persons should be welcome to receive Holy Communion regardless of whether or not they have been baptized.

24 % Strongly Agree 

17 % Somewhat Agree 

6 % No Opinion 

23 % Somewhat Disagree 

30 % Strongly Disagree

Being divorced and remarried should be a consideration in the selection of our next bishop.

16 % Strongly Agree 
23 % Somewhat Agree 
17 % No Opinion
19 % Somewhat Disagree 
25 % Strongly Disagree

Our next bishop should always stand on Christian principles, even if he stands alone.

70 % Strongly Agree 

21 % Somewhat Agree 

6 % No Opinion 

2 % Somewhat Disagree 

1 % Strongly Disagree

In spite of all that, we wound up with Bishop Waldo who was divorced and remarried, who has permitted communion of the unbaptized, who did not support the Windsor process, who supported the blessing of civil same sex marriages, who supports the ordination of partnered gay and lesbian persons, and who, by virtue of the above, in my opinion abandoned Christian principles and joined the crowd of Episcopal bishops who ignore or revise the parts of the Bible that do not agree with the Spirit of the Age. 

2020 survey (results are here) asked the following,

• How would you describe your gender?*
• Please self-identify or state 'Prefer not to respond' if applicable
• Are you a member of the LGBTQIA+ community?*
• What qualities do you think are most important in the next Bishop of the Diocese of Upper South Carolina?*
  
• What do you believe God is calling our diocese to be now and in the future?*
• What do you believe to be most important for a candidate considering a call to serve as bishop of our diocese to know about us?*
• Is there anything else you want the Nominating Committee to know as we move forward in the search for our new bishop?*

The question "What qualities are most important in our next bishop?" gave the following options,

Kind

Spiritual

Experience at parish level

Open

Relationship Builder

Personable

Creative Problem Solver

Pastor

Get things done

Liturgical

Teacher

Culturally Responsive

Practical

Preacher

Manager

Experience at the diocesan/national levels

Social and/or Political Activist 38% VI or I. 20% NI

Prophet 29% VI or I

Spanish Speaking

No toughies there. 

The lay people (majority female) responded that "Kindness" was most important. 95% said this was very important or important, but what is most worrisome is that 38% listed "Social and/or Political Activist" as a very important or important quality in a bishop, while only 20% said it was not important. 

I am stunned that 29% considered "Prophet" as a very important or important qualification. What do they want, another Gene Robinson or John Shelby Spong?

The clergy, as one might expect, were even more progressive, 

44% thought being a social activist was a very important or important quality in a bishop, and a head slapping 54% thought being a prophet was very important or important.

Since the lay delegates to a bishop election are usually groomed by their priests, I cannot see any chance for a moderate (there will be no conservative candidate) to win. EDUSC will probably wind up with something further left than Bishop Waldo. 

Christmas Season Gospel Options

This Sunday the Revised Common Lectionary  (RCL) gives three options for the Gospel reading: Matthew 2:13-15,19-23 or Luke 2:41-52 or Matthew 2:1-12. The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) Lectionary gives us two choices: Matt 2:13-23 or Matt 2:1-12.

I hope that the ACNA choice, Matthew 2:13-23, is read at your church because it includes the slaughter of the innocents which the RCL strangely cuts out.

The Escape to Egypt

13 Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 Then Joseph[a] got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”

The Massacre of the Infants

16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men,[b] he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men.[c] 17 Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:

18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,

    wailing and loud lamentation,

Rachel weeping for her children;

    she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”

The Return from Egypt

19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, 20 “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” 21 Then Joseph[d] got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. 23 There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He will be called a Nazorean.” 

(New Revised Standard Version)

I guess the editors of the RCL didn't want to spoil anyone's Christmas with the brutal facts of the world into which Jesus came. 

TYS

Homosexual polygamy is here. Told you so. 

From LifeSite News, 

Exhibit A is a story out of California. Back in 2017, a “throuple” of men successfully petitioned a judge to put all three of them on the birth certificate of a little girl named Piper. Dr. Ian Jenkins and Alan Mayfield met in 2003, and added another partner to their relationship upon meeting Jeremy Hodges, a zoo-keeper, in 2012. They discussed having children—the media reports on this ignore the fact that obviously, men cannot create children without women. But children have been turned into a commodity, and our society has decided that gay men have more of a right to children than children have a right to mothers.

As The Daily Mail grotesquely put it: “They were offered embryos by a female friend, Meghan.” The men had been given children, and now they needed to rent a womb. As the Mail put it, “a different friend offered to be the surrogate for the embryos, and they paid for many lawyers, Piper was born, followed several years later by Parker.” Now, the three men just needed legal recognition for their arrangement and appealed to a San Diego judge to be recognized as three fathers.

I don't care what that judge says. The Judge of us all says that ain't the way it is supposed to be.

But who listens to Him anymore?

 

The world did not know him

 This Sunday's Gospel reading is from John 1:1-18 and verses 10-13 are, in my opinion, at the heart of John's Gospel.

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified to him and cried out, ‘This was he of whom I said, “He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” ’) 16 From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

In the next to last chapter of this Gospel, John reveals his strongest desire for those who read it in John 20:30,

30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

The world did not know Jesus then, but thanks to the work of the apostles including the work of John, countless billions have come to believe in Jesus as Lord.

 

 

The Christmas "Stars"

Christmas is almost here, and this Christmas will be a quiet one for Pewsterspouse and I. Two of our neighbors who are in our "bubble" may come over to share a socially distanced Christmas dinner, and we may plan on an evening of stargazing under what are predicted to be cold and clear skies. Attached to our above ground observatory are the words "Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua" because we praise the Lord and admit that all of heaven and Earth are full of His glory. On such nights we musn't forget that the heavenly cathedral under which we walk is there thanks to God. Jupiter and Saturn are in close conjuction this week and are low in the west at sunset. You don't need a telescope to see what some believe may be what guided the Wisemen to the baby Jesus so long ago. Here are a couple of pictures I took of the two together and separately.

 

So, today I will be polishing up my eyepieces, charging my batteries, and checking my equipment, but if we experience any problems, we always have our eyeballs, binoculars, and lawnchairs to fall back on. We wish you all a very merry Christmas this year.

The Annunciation: Believe it or Not

 This Sunday's Gospel reading is Luke 1:26-38. In it, Mary is visited by an angel and told that she will bear the son of God. In the last sentence, Mary humbly consents. 

 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.’ But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.’ Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.

There should be no need to expound on Luke's account of this event. You either believe it or you don't. 

Reasons I have heard to disbelieve the Annunciation include, 

• There are no such things as angels.
• There is no such thing as a virgin conception.
• The word translated as "virgin" just means young girl.

My simple response is to first ask if the person believes in God, and if they respond in the affirmative, then ask them if God's powers are limited in any way. If they say "No", then their inconsistency is easy to point out. If they say that God can't do such things, then we have to go into a deeper discussion because that answer essentially means that I have a John Shelby Spong on my hands and this is someone who is likely to deny many other things in the Gospels including the Resurrection of Jesus.

If you believe that all things are possible for God, then why can't he send an angel and permit a virgin to conceive His Son?  

Roman Catholic Bishops Weigh in on Communion for the President Elect

 Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., is the archbishop emeritus of Philadelphia, and he recently authored a piece at "First Things" titled, "Mr. Biden and the Matter of Scandal". It is less about the President Elect's sins and more about the sins of bishops and priests who provide Holy Eucharist to those in power who work to feed the abortion machine. Archbishop Chaput gives a theological and doctrinal rationale which you can read by following the link above. You can read his conclusion below, 

"When bishops publicly announce their willingness to give Communion to Mr. Biden, without clearly teaching the gravity of his facilitating the evil of abortion (and his approval of same-sex relationships), they do a serious disservice to their brother bishops and their people. The reason is obvious. By his actions during the course of his public life, Mr. Biden has demonstrated that he is not in full communion with the Catholic Church. To his credit, he has championed many causes and issues that do serve the common good. However, many of his actions and words have also supported or smoothed the way for grave moral evils in our public life that have resulted in the destruction of millions of innocent lives. Mr. Biden has said that he will continue to advance those same policies as president, and thus should not receive Holy Communion. His stated intention requires a strong and consistent response from Church leaders and faithful."  

"This is not a 'political' matter, and those who would describe it as such are either ignorant or willfully confusing the issue. This is a matter of bishops’ unique responsibility before the Lord for the integrity of the sacraments. Moreover, there is also the pressing matter of pastoral concern for a man’s salvation. At minimum, every bishop has the duty of privately discussing these vital moral issues and the destructive effect of receiving Communion unworthily with public figures who act contrary to Church teaching. Reception of Communion is not a right but a gift and privilege; and on the subject of 'rights', the believing community has a priority right to the integrity of its belief and practice."

Bishops and priests have been allowing Mr. Biden and other political figures who openly flaunt the Roman Catholic Church's teachings to receive the Eucharist. That brings "scandal" upon the Church. From my experience with the Episcopal organization, when clergy disregard or even deny the historic teachings of the "one holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church" that we claim to believe every Sunday as we recite the Nicene Creed, then the Church has no standing when it comes to any question about the Faith. 

A Church that has lost credibility is a scandal, but revisionists don't seem to care about the destruction of the very thing that they, like parasites, feed upon.