H/T: Anglican Unscripted and The Quinton Report
The above ad appeared in the Charleston City Paper, an alternative weekly. The text reads:
The Virgin Mary Followed by Bloody Marys
The ad, run by the Church of the Holy Communion, an Episcopal Church parish in Charleston, South Carolina, then goes on to list several restaurants in the area (Hominy Grill, Fuel, Cafe Lana, & Five Loaves) along with mentioning Spoleto festival venues are nearby. The Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion bills itself as an “Anglo-Catholic Episcopal Church.”
George Conger, commenting on Anglican Unscripted (51 minutes into the video), rightly noted that the ad flaunts the worst aspects of "Gin and Lace" Anglo-Catholicism. This ad may have an ephemeral attraction for socialite Charlestonians who want a little religious ritual before their Sunday brunch, but it doesn't do much to commend the real reason why the Church exists. In fact, it sends exactly the wrong message.
[P.S., If you want to know what the real business of the Church is, read my previous post.]
5 comments:
Yeah, you would have thought that even if this kind of stuff was OK with bishop VonRosenburg, +Dan Martins (the bishop invited in to oversee the parish) would have had a problem with it, now that he is touting himself as the "Anglo Catholic" bishop of TEC. But I guess not.
That ad is what we would call "God awful."
Given that it is Spoleto Season in Charleston, I highly doubt that ad was aimed at tony Charlestonians. The ad was most likely aimed at tourists not natives IMVHO. Now what kind of tourists were they thinking would then make the parish their church home? I don't know. However, the ad was in the avant-garde Charleston City Paper not the Post and Courier. I know +DanMartins was not happy with the ad given his comments on George Conger's FB page. The underlying story that many do not know/understand is Holy Communion is now struggling to survive since the decision to remain in TEC. Unfortunately, that decision has been devastating to this once thriving Anglo-catholic parish. I doubt this ad will do much to remedy that situation.... sadly. SC Blu Cat lady
Thanks, Galletta (SC Blu Cat Lady) for the inside scoop. I don't mean to be too hard on the Church of the Holy Communion. This just hit be as one of those bizarre misguided attempts at advertizing that made me say: WHAT WERE THEY THINKING????
I am sorry, though not surprised, to hear that CHC is suffering after deciding to remain in TEC. It is a shame. The real Diocese of South Carolina could have used their presence--and they certainly could have benefited from fellowship with orthodox Anglicans instead of the curious mixture of pagan beliefs and Christian trappings that is now TEC.
Of Holy Communion's 500 baptized members, fewer than thirty left for the Ordinariate, and 29 transferred to parishes that left TEC; at the same time, however, 30 transferred in. I don't think that qualifies as "suffering" — and neither do they.
Having read Bp. Martins' only comment on on the topic on Facebook, I'm not sure where anyone would get the idea that he was unhappy with the ad:
"I am the Bishop Visitor of this parish under a DEPO agreement with the local bishop. I can testify that it is an extraordinarily vibrant community, having not only survived but thrived during some very challenging times in recent years. They worship the Triune God in the beauty of holiness, with full theological orthodoxy. Attendance is strong. They are mission-minded, and enjoy some of the ablest clergy leadership in Anglicanism."
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