To all of our disaffected Roman Catholic sisters and brothers; Nuns, Clergy, laypeople, divorced, gay, etc. to those of you tired of the rants on abortion and lack of care for the kids we already have on the planet suffering under oppression, poverty and war, to those of you fed up with the marginalization of gay folks, and a church that continues to fumble its way through the child abuse scandal;
To the Religious of America, courageous nuns who have stood by the poor and for women's rights, and have given great comfort to all people without regard to sexual orientation, and now face the ire of the papacy;
To my Methodist friends who are utterly put out over the Church's stand on homosexuality, how far Methodism has come from those days when she stood foursquare with the poor and the working people of England and elsewhere.
To disenchanted evangelicals to all others who find the National conversation on Race, Ethnicity, Class, Gender and Orientation to be taking a decided turn away from the teachings of Jesus,
In the Name of the Church I invite you to consider The Episcopal Church
The Holy Father has made provision for disaffected Anglicans/Episcopalians to "come over" to Rome.
It is now time we make the same provision for those disaffected by a male dominated misogynistic organization that marginalizes vast stores of humanity from the heart of God.
Consider if you will one church that sees itself with Biblical clarity as "A House of Prayer for ALL People" The Episcopal Church in the United States of America.
9 comments:
Outstanding rant Father!
Very well done invitation to the many who ought to be Episcopalians, and are suffering oppression in other Communions.
inviting many as you have said to "come on over..."
Thank you Fr. Baer, always a pleasure to share a moment or two to vent the spleen over the myriad injustices that inflict themselves upon us.
RKREADER...please invite as many as you can and tell them to invite their friends too! It is high time we answer God's call to open our doors to ALL God's People!!!
As a "cradle Episcopalian" who veered off into Evangelical circles in the late 1970s -- just in time to watch the rise of the ugly Dominionist heresy, as it poisoned the Evangelical community, an experience so horrible it almost made an Atheist out of me -- I just want to say that I am very very proud of my childhood church, its rationality, and its compassion.
Those "exit blessings" from the Sermon on the Mount, with which every Episcopal service of my childhood ended, have been a great comfort to me during these last few crazy years.
Sadly enough, I never ever heard them referenced during my 10 years in RW Evangelical circles, and I keep running into Evangelicals who apparently have never heard them.
My favorite: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust corrupt, and thieves break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not corrupt, nor thieves break through and steal."
Go, Episcopalians! ;->
Fr. Paul, don't hold back, tell us how you really feel!
I officiated at the wedding of a couple who belonged to our downstairs congregation, the AA meeting in the undercroft. He described himself as a recovering Roman Catholic.
As you know Danny, I've been a bit shy with my opines through these yea, 40 years! "Recovering Roman Catholic"...that's one for the books! Thanks
And Mary, thanks for your story too. This life is a pilgrimage. In my 40 years we have fought for liturgical renewal, racial equality, gender equality and now marriage equality for all and LGBTQ equality.
It has been a difficult struggle, and we have paid a price for waging the battle....but it has been worth it.
At long last we can say with Biblical Clarity; 'We are a House of Prayer for ALL People"!
I am the "simple minded one" ,,,,,#1 Love The LORD !!!! #2 Love your neighbor,,,,,everyone. Know in your heart that Jesus died on the cross for you. Ask his forgiveness of your sins. With these simple but HUGE steps you will begin a new life. Ask Him to guide you. You will still fall (as I do daily) Just look to Him and He will pick you up again and Love you every step of the way.
Thanks Terri...that just about sums it up! Thank you!
Paul
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