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Fleming Rutledge is a preacher and teacher known throughout the mainline Protestant denominations of the US, Canada and parts of the UK. She is the author of seven books and has received a grant from the Louisville Foundation to complete a book about the meaning of the Crucifixion.
One of the first women to be ordained to the priesthood of the Episcopal Church, she served for fourteen years on the clergy staff at Grace Church on Lower Broadway at Tenth Street, New York City. Fleming and her husband celebrate their 50th anniversary in 2009 and have two daughters and two grandchildren. She is a native of Franklin, Virginia.
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Ruminations: Why are they surprised?Tuesday, September 02, 2008Why are they surprised?According to a report from the Episcopal News Service in The Living Church, August 31, the Bishop of New York, Mark Sisk, and the Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, expressed surprise at the worldwide "lack of understanding" of the Episcopal Church in the United States."I was surprised at questions about basic theological tenets and whether we really believe them or not," Bishop Jefferts Schori said. "It's a reminder that even though we may think all Anglicans believe the basics of the faith, not everybody believes that we believe them." Why would anyone think we believe the basics of the faith? For many decades now, the refrain from pulpits and in clergy conclaves has been wink-wink, nudge-nudge about "the basics of the faith"? I have a copy of a sermon that was delivered on Easter Day by a leading bishop, calling the entire Resurrection proclamation into question. Last November, when the churches traditionally read passages of judgment prior to Advent, I heard with my own ears a Yale Divinity School graduate say from the pulpit that judgment has no place in our faith, essentially repudiating the lessons that had just been read. We don't have to look at the "theses" of the ineffable Bishop Spong to find widespread undermining of the foundations throughout the church. The takeover of the churches by "liberal" theology has been so complete that few, whether in the hierarchy or in the pews, have even noticed. That's the real issue, not the argument about homosexuality which is a "presenting symptom," not the underlying problem.
Permanent Link for this Post: http://www.generousorthodoxy.org/ruminations/2008/09/why-are-they-surprised.htm |
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4 Comments:
Indeed, why are they surprised?
Just read a newsletter from a major parish not far from mine.
The central article in it was a copy of a sermon recently given there--on the passage in which Jesus encounters the Syro-Phoenician woman (asking for the healing of her daughter). The message therein was that Jesus had to get past his own "bigotries" and "prejudices"!
In another part of the same newsletter, as a part of that congregation's outline of its principles, their understanding of of Holy Communion is stated: "the sharing of bread and wine in Jesus' name to be a representation of an ancient vision of God's feast for all peoples."
But many thanks, always, Fleming, for your witness and ministry.
Fleming, your witness and ministry are impressive.
However, I'm forced to roll my eyes at what seem to be delusions of persecution on your part.
Yes, there are those who have differing interpretations of tenets that are normally regarded as core to Christianity. The folks who actively repudiate those tenets are in the minority.
It is a willful misunderstanding that the Episcopal Church has abandoned Christian doctrine. You'll likely find a consensus among clergy that doctrine should be more flexible. But it's ludicrous to maintain that this rises to the level you say it does.
Re "... the 'theses' of the ineffable Bishop Spong"
When I was at the Chaplains School (formerly) at Fort Monmouth, NJ, whenever I came across one of Spong's "works" in a bookstore, I would move it to another literary section, where hopefully it would never be sought or sold.
Re "The takeover of the churches by "liberal" theology has been so complete that few, whether in the hierarchy or in the pews, have even noticed …"
Anyone in either the pulpit or the pew who has been told that their (orthodox) views are now "irrelevant" must surely have noticed something.
Or, as "w" suggested, are these "delusions" on my part as well?
... The takeover of the churches by "liberal" theology has been so complete that few, whether in the hierarchy or in the pews, have even noticed. That's the real issue, not the argument about homosexuality which is a "presenting symptom," not the underlying problem.
"CHICAGO (Reuters) - Leaders of the U.S. Episcopal Church voted on Thursday to defrock a bishop who has been a leader among dissidents opposed to the ascendancy of gays in the church and a critic of other issues involving liberal scriptural interpretation.
The House of Bishops of the 2.4-million-member U.S. branch of the global Anglican Communion said its members meeting in Utah has voted 88-35 to remove Bishop Robert Duncan, head of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from the ordained ministry.
Over the years Duncan has been a leading orthodox dissident and an organizer of those who have been at odds with the U.S. church since 2003 when the Episcopal Church consecrated Gene Robinson of New Hampshire as the first bishop in more than four centuries of church history known to be in an openly gay relationship ...
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