November 06, 2007
That's Not My Church!
Since deciding to swim the Tiber, I deliberately have avoided sniping at TEC as she settles beneath the waves. Goodbye to all that, as it were.
Nonetheless, every now and again I see something that grabs my attention again, either exciting anger over what TEC has turned into, or else exciting my admiration for those who continue to fight to either save it from itself (futily, IMHO) or, at least, establish a rearguard to protect as many fleeing refugees as possible. The following exchange of letters does both.
First is Her High Priestessness's "Oi, Ya Got A Nice Diocese There. Be A Shame if Something Happened To It" letter to Bishop Robert Duncan of the Diocese of Pittsburgh (one of the principal orthodox redoubts):
The Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PADear Bob,
There have been numerous public references in recent weeks regarding resolutions to be introduced at your forthcoming diocesan convention. Those resolutions, if adopted, would amend several of your diocesan canons and begin the process of amending one or more provisions of your diocesan Constitution. I have reviewed a number of these proposed resolutions, and it is evident to me that they would violate the Constitutional requirement that the Diocese conform to the Constitution and Canons of The Episcopal Church. It is apparent from your pre-convention report that you endorse these proposed changes. I am also aware of other of your statements and actions in recent months that demonstrate an intention to lead your diocese into a position that would purportedly permit it to depart from The Episcopal Church. All these efforts, in my view, display a fundamental misunderstanding of the relationship between The Episcopal Church and its dioceses. Our Constitution explicitly provides that a diocese must accede to the Constitution and Canons of the Church.
I call upon you to recede from this direction and to lead your diocese on a new course that recognizes the interdependent and hierarchical relationship between the national Church and its dioceses and parishes. That relationship is at the heart of our mission, as expressed in our polity. Specifically, I sincerely hope that you will change your position and urge your diocese at its forthcoming convention not to adopt the resolutions that you have until now supported.
If your course does not change, I shall regrettably be compelled to see that appropriate canonical steps are promptly taken to consider whether you have abandoned the Communion of this Church -- by actions and substantive statements, however they may be phrased -- and whether you have committed canonical offences that warrant disciplinary action.
It grieves me that any bishop of this Church would seek to lead any of its members out of it. I would remind you of my open offer of an Episcopal Visitor if you wish to receive pastoral care from another bishop. I continue to pray for reconciliation of this situation, and I remain
Your servant in Christ,
Katharine Jefferts Schori
I saw this a few days ago. I just luuuuuv it when do-yer-own-thing radicals get all hierarchical n' stuff once they capture the citadel. Cor' lumme, stone the crows.
But I genuinely love Bishop Duncan's "Nuts"-like response to Her High Priestessness:
The Most Revd Katharine Jefferts Schori Episcopal Church Center New York, New YorkDear Katharine,
Here I stand. I can do no other. I will neither compromise the Faith once delivered to the saints, nor will I abandon the sheep who elected me to protect them.
Pax et bonum in Christ Jesus our Lord,
+Bob Pittsburgh
As the Colossus (who sent me both links) put it, "I almost can envision Pope Benedict, riding a tank, a la Patton on the way to Bastogne, upon hearing General McAuliffe’s reply to the Germans: 'A man that eloquent has to be saved.'"
Indeed.
Speaking of which, I haven't done much crossing the Tiber posting of late because I haven't really had that much to say. RCIA goes on apace and all is well - the real heavy hitting won't start until Lent. In the meantime, I read and I study and I pray as best I can.
The Missus is of the opinion that I won't actually go through with it. She's too nice to say so directly, but she thinks that I'm too shallow and not, what, fervent enough to actually make the jump. Well, in one sense she is, of course, absolutely right. I am shallow. I'd also add that I'm frivolous, inconsistent, sinful, worldly and profoundly ignorant of a great many most things. However, I don't see any of this as reason not to join the Church. In fact, quite the opposite: It's the very reason why I should join. And as for ferver, frankly no, at this point I don't see myself as the sort of person who will attend Mass every morning and twice on Sundays and spend the evenings watching EWTN. (Are converts necessarily held to a higher bar than those born into the Church?) However, I haven't been terribly troubled by that thought: I reckon that the important thing is to concentrate on getting across and not worry too much about the future. I (hopefully) have many years in which to explore and figure out exactly how I fit into the great scheme of things. I'm sure that within the body of Christ there is even room for doofus slackers like me.
UPDATE: The Diocese of Bastogne digs in.
Posted by Robert at November 6, 2007 11:45 AM | TrackBack
Hey Rob...I am a daily reader of the llamas, but there are long gaps where I am unable to check the site. That said I am not fully up on your movement from one church to another (although I find your posts about the Episcopal both fascinating and distressing). However, I am Roman Catholic and am familiar with RCIA. My wife went through it a couple years before we were married and there are a couple of people in my small church group that have been through it.
If your question of the higher standard is serious, I would say the answer is no. In fact, most of the people I know that have been through RCIA know more about my faith than I do as a cradle Catholic. It shames and humbles me more than anything else. I enjoy being around converts more than anyone else because they help me become better with both their honest questions and their enthusiasm. Sometimes I leave a question unasked because at 37 I think I really should know the answer by now.
Anyway, if my assumption is correct I welcome you to my church. I hope and pray more than anything that the people who make up the church can live up to the standards that would bring someone of your knowledge and passion into the fold. Good luck and God Bless with however it turns out.
Posted by: Silk at November 6, 2007 12:11 PM"...frankly no, at this point I don't see myself as the sort of person who will attend Mass every morning and twice on Sundays and spend the evenings watching EWTN..."
Dear Robbo,
Do you recall several weeks ago when I was talking about not having to do all sorts of great Catholic feats of strength as a convert -like weekly confession? I never meant that weekly confession is not good, estimable and all that, I just meant people who have not jumped the Tiber have no idea what a huge jump it is.
That said, it's a marvelous jump and you will feel as if you've come home. Home is good.
Well, like I say, I keep paddling with optimism. And a seahorse floaty covered with green spots.
Posted by: Robbo the LB at November 6, 2007 04:29 PM"Thankee very kindly."
You sound like Lord Peter Wimsey. Are you a reader/watcher of Sayers?
Posted by: ScurvyOaks at November 6, 2007 05:43 PMOne's practices are also a question of one's perceived need.
A lot of people in my circle of family/friends think I've gone over the edge in terms of devotions. It isn't that; it is just that I feel spiritually bankrupt if I don't do them.
It's like income. Some people manage well on $30k a year. Some people manage badly on $150k. Or $15 million. Me? I'm like MC Hammer.
Or a better analogy might be fitness. Some people need the endorphins they get from 20 hours of working out a week or else they go mad. Some people are fine with the occasional walk.
The key is to find what works for you. I find I need much more than the normal prescription; probably because I spent 20 years in the wasteland where I had no spiritual life at all. For me, the Lord makes good "the years which the locust has eaten" (Joel 2:25) by a simple method -- I do twice as much now as I was supposed to do then. This isn't because I'm holy now. It's because I was unusually ungrateful for many, many years.
Some folks He heals with a touch. Some He tells to sell their wealth, leave their unburied dead, or to leave their family behind. Some He tells to go and sin no more. And some demons, He says, can only be driven out by prayer and fasting. To each, his own. The doctor prescribes the medicine; we are the patients, and if we are wise, we listen.
But He is very much a general practitioner, and his patients are varied. Don't look at the prescriptions he orders for the person next to you, because they may have a heart ailment, where you might have a headache. My wife -- who has led a very good life, has a charitable heart, and has also had some physical ailments which have caused her undeserved suffering in her day -- generally gets told to floss more and leaves the office with a lollipop. Me, on the other hand? Serious prayer, hard confession, hours of lectio divina -- He isn't trying to make me a saint. He's just trying to stabilize me enough to get me to the end in one piece. I'm thinking a St. Lawrence-style martyrdom might be awaiting, just to make sure.
I'm joking here, at some level. But you get my point. Do what your heart tells you and not what the minimum is. The minimum is weekly mass, holy days of obligation, annual confession, and communion once a year. Will you need more? Probably. How much more?
I'm not the doctor . . .
Posted by: The Colossus at November 6, 2007 05:53 PMI am confident the Missus will attribute these developments to me in some microscopic way which will make our sparring as lively as always.
Posted by: LMC at November 6, 2007 11:34 PMOh, absolutely, I'm the guy who rented out the "BLAME PAUL" billboard on the way to her work.
Posted by: Steve the LLamabutcher at November 7, 2007 12:15 AM"Thankee very kindly."
You sound like Lord Peter Wimsey.
Really? I always think of Jimmy Stewart's character in The Philadelphia Story, in the scene in which he responds, quietly and comically, to the Amish librarian with her own words: "Thank thee."
My dear Robbo,
When I decided to convert, I still had a number of questions scuttling about the brain, but I decided to take a deep breath and plunge right into the Tiber. I took, as the age-old phrase goes, a leap of faith. And I've not been disappointed. All the pressing questions I had were eventually answered, and so much more impossible to put into words. You are on the right track, my brave man. Press on, and bon courage.
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