Earnest and true words, Anne. The call to orthodoxy serves us all As from the beginning of His church, defending the truth makes a place for sinners like me to hear the gospel in all its purity and power, to be saved by a message of the weakness of God. Such ironies that gospel ministry reveals - a vulnerable incarnate God who suffers abuse and torture and who dies alone with our sin AND the vulnerable, abused, and tortured Word of God that creates new life, grants an eternal hope of life with God, forgives sin, undoes the damage done by sin. As those caught by the reality of present-but-not-yet, as those relishing the comfort and delight of the promises of God and longing for their depths as they rush to meet us, as He rushs to embrace, toss and catch us, thank you for standing guard. Thank you for submitting to the Spirit of power and love and wisdom.
Huh... I didn't remember that C4SO predated the ACNA--is that true? Seems kind of odd, but my parish was neck-deep in the Troubles and I could have easily overlooked that detail. What is it about human nature that in so many instances, especially in the church (where I pay attention) we have clergy and churches suddenly coming-to and realizing that they are leagues away from their historic doctrines and traditions, or that they mistakenly signed up for a set of beliefs and values they don't actually hold? Oops? And then responding with venom (or polite distain) that those "other people" are ignorant regressives. (To be fair, I didn't personally see that from either of these departing rectors; correct me if I'm wrong.) CS Lewis had a brilliant quote that I can never put my hands on, to the effect that clergy who find that they now sincerely and muscularly hold to beliefs different from the Mother Church are welcome to those beliefs, but that they should have the decency to get off the payroll. I'm grateful that these two churches have departed the ACNA with relative grace and alacrity. May those left behind find safe harbor close by.
Earnest and true words, Anne. The call to orthodoxy serves us all As from the beginning of His church, defending the truth makes a place for sinners like me to hear the gospel in all its purity and power, to be saved by a message of the weakness of God. Such ironies that gospel ministry reveals - a vulnerable incarnate God who suffers abuse and torture and who dies alone with our sin AND the vulnerable, abused, and tortured Word of God that creates new life, grants an eternal hope of life with God, forgives sin, undoes the damage done by sin. As those caught by the reality of present-but-not-yet, as those relishing the comfort and delight of the promises of God and longing for their depths as they rush to meet us, as He rushs to embrace, toss and catch us, thank you for standing guard. Thank you for submitting to the Spirit of power and love and wisdom.
Huh... I didn't remember that C4SO predated the ACNA--is that true? Seems kind of odd, but my parish was neck-deep in the Troubles and I could have easily overlooked that detail. What is it about human nature that in so many instances, especially in the church (where I pay attention) we have clergy and churches suddenly coming-to and realizing that they are leagues away from their historic doctrines and traditions, or that they mistakenly signed up for a set of beliefs and values they don't actually hold? Oops? And then responding with venom (or polite distain) that those "other people" are ignorant regressives. (To be fair, I didn't personally see that from either of these departing rectors; correct me if I'm wrong.) CS Lewis had a brilliant quote that I can never put my hands on, to the effect that clergy who find that they now sincerely and muscularly hold to beliefs different from the Mother Church are welcome to those beliefs, but that they should have the decency to get off the payroll. I'm grateful that these two churches have departed the ACNA with relative grace and alacrity. May those left behind find safe harbor close by.
Excellent, as always, Anne!! Have fun with the weights!