Episcopalians Defiant and Will Not Reverse Support of Gay Marriage

moral monsters masquerading as "men of god"

Sadly, the Anglican Communion has prostituted itself to anti-gay African archbishops - some of whose predecessors have been implicated in the murder of Muslim women and children - and has suspended the Episcopal Church USA from the Anglican Communion for its support for same sex marriage.  The move will likely accelerate the exodus from the Anglican Church in areas out side of the ignorant and bigotry embracing archdiocese outside of Africa.  Better yet, one can only hope that the Episcopal Church will divert its funds and foreign aid to regions of the world that do not embrace ignorance, bigotry and anti-gay violence.   In the short term the Episcopal Church is showing defiance and seems unconcerned that it is being punished for being on the right side of history and a welcoming form of Christianity.  I find the developments interesting since (i) I was briefly an Episcopalian before moving to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and (ii) the husband and I hosted a rehearsal dinner for dear friends last night and among the attendees was an Episcopal priest who gave the blessing at the marriage service today.  Patheos looks at the justified defiance of the Episcopal Church.  Here are highlights:

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry of the Episcopal Church has stated that they have no intention of reversing their decision to endorse same sex marriage. The AP reports,

In a phone interview from England, where he attended the gathering of top Anglican archbishops, Curry said he told his fellow leaders they should expect no change. The top Episcopal legislative body, called General Convention, last year voted overwhelmingly to authorize same-sex marriage ceremonies in church.

Furthermore, Curry said he thought it was the Episcopalians mission to convert everybody to same sex agenda acceptance.

Curry said the church was resolved to work toward building acceptance of same-sex relationships throughout the Anglican fellowship, which the Episcopal Church represents in the United States. A majority of Anglican leaders at the meeting affirmed the teaching that marriage is only the union of a man and a woman.

Meanwhile,the Archbishop of  one of those [Episcopal] breakaway groups, The Anglican Church in North America, was at the Canterbury meeting this week and was fully involved in the discussions although he did not vote. Episcopal News Service Reports,

ACNA is the largest of the recent [anti-gay] Episcopal breakaway groups and they have been instrumental in making alliances with the African bishops.  It would seem that they have a possibility of stepping into the vacancy that will be left when the Episcopal Church is finally rejected from the Anglican Communion three years from now.

If this were to happen, then the strong (and wealthy) Anglican Church of North America would be increasingly aligned with the African bishops providing a strong alternative to the old school Canterbury-New York alliance. If the Anglican shift to Africa therefore becomes and American-African shift, then the future of the Anglican communion looks even more interesting.

Like the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion is faced with the choice of either (i) becoming an African based, black church that embraces ignorance and relies on an ignorant population to survive, or (ii) embracing modernity and adapting in order to remain relevant in America and in the western world.  As noted, if it chooses the former, one can only hope that defections from the Communion accelerate and that the flow of western money to support African churchs lead by truly foul and horrible individuals stops entirely.  The embrace on ignorance and bigotry needs to carry a huge financial price.