Monday, November 19, 2007
The Cost of Unfaithfulness
Commentary by Robin G. Jordan
What does Presiding Katherine Schori hope to gain from the costly and lengthy litigation in which she is involving the national church and a number of dioceses? It will not stop the Episcopal Church from hemorrhaging members. It will not help Episcopal parishes and churches to retain existing members and to attract new members. It will not prevent clergy, congregations, and dioceses from leaving the Episcopal Church. It will not keep other provinces from assuming jurisdiction over the departing congregations and dioceses. What it will do is strain the resources of the dioceses involved in the lawsuits. It will use monies that might have been put to better use in a shrinking denomination for evangelistic outreach, new church development, and congregational revitalization.
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1 comment:
Robin's question assumes that 815 is actually under the control of +KJS. I would propose an alternate hypothesis: the PB, being weak and inexperienced, is easily dominated by her chancellor, David Booth Beers. The church might be called "Episcopal," but it is currently being run by lawyers, not bishops.
It is said that to a boy with a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Litigation is the hammer of lawyers. Lawyers are all about 1) winning conflicts and 2) racking up billable hours. Pursing litigation fulfills the agenda of lawyers.
This is a time when we really need bishops who will assert themselves against the lawyers - shepherds who have the long-term interests of their flocks at heart, rather than hirelings who care not for the sheep. But this is 21st-century America, where lawyers are always looking to destroy whatever they can't exploit or control.
Oh, that the Lord would cut off all smooth tongues, and close the lips that utter proud boasts! Those who say, "With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own; who is lord over us?" (Ps. 12:3-4)
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