The Jesus Movement

Led by its Presiding Bishop,

The Episcopal Church has

embarked on an adventure

called, “The Jesus Movement.”

According to Wikipedia,

the title originated in the 60s

for a congress of hippies and

so-called “Jesus freaks.”

Ageing baby boomers will

remember the groups at their

colleges which were a mixture

of Pentecostals and Evangelicals.

That Jesus Movement and

its name vanished in the 70s

and the name has now been

appropriated by TEC.

The new Jesus Movement

seems to be aimed at

developing a spiritual

relationship with Jesus.

The video of Bishop Curry

walking down Fifth Avenue,

speaking to an invisible audience

does not offer clarity.

TEC has instituted a five point

series which is supposed to

teach us to become loving,

liberating, and life-giving.

One might observe that such

is already the principal task

of church, to educate and prepare

us to follow Jesus in our lives.

Evangelicals -- Who Are We?

In the first third of her mammoth tome,

“Evangelicals, Struggle to Shape America,”

Frances Fitzgerald traces the origin

of the term, Evangelicals.

She writes that Evangelicals

are an early 20^th Century

spinoff from fundamentalists

and their unscientific beliefs.

Apparently, the name did not

emerge until the Billy Graham

revivals and his founding of the

magazine, Christianity Today.

The term also was used at

the Lausanne Movement Conference

held in 1974, and the ensuing efforts

of John Stott and J.I. Packer.

People did not identify

as Evangelicals until recently,

still calling themselves members

of a specific Christian denomination.

It was a system of beliefs

that coalesced into Evangelicalism,

regardless of the denomination

in which they worshipped.

Evangelicals are now found in

all the mainline denominations

in varying degree, and are the

norm in a few large ones.

Simply put, Evangelicals believe

that the bible is the guide to salvation

and the moral code has to be viewed

in the light of the New Testament.

Evangelicals concentrate on three tasks:

conversion, bringing people to God,

discipleship, learning Christianity, and

service, practicing their faith in the world.

Gnostic Gospels

October 10, 2017

Gnostic Gospels

We have recently been treated

to exposition of the so-called

Gnostic gospels, without any

announced purpose for their review.

All we laymen know about them is that

a rather large number of early Christians

wrote sayings attributed to Jesus that

never made it into the New Testament.

It is easy to see why, in that their

efforts are obviously made up and

wholly lacking the clarity and majesty

of the included passages in the bible.

That still leaves the question as to

why the sudden interest in them.

Could it be inspired by a resistance

to the present contents of the bible?

It is well-known that the bible is

not kind to persons who prefer a

lightweight Christianity which

makes no demands in their lives.

Episcopalians partly solve this

problem by deleting verses from

the daily lectionary that are not

in sync with modern secular mores.

They cannot rewrite the bible,

but perhaps they can add excerpts

from the ancient writings that are

more acceptable to their congregants.

If so, playing up the wisdom of the

Gnostic gospels, and other sources

continues the drive to refashion a

religion far from its origin.

October 30, 2017


Yes, indeed, some biblical scholars are promoting an alternative New Testament, replacing or erasing passages which they believe are offensive. Their publications are based on early Christian writings which are generations removed from the eyewitness accounts in the presently accepted bible. The objective seems to be compiling a New Testament closer to contemporary mores and values. This helps to explain why TEC is not a biblically-centered denomination. 

https://www.amazon.com/New-Testament-Twenty.../dp/0544570103

The problem is that our "progressive" clergy are already preaching the Gospel According to Rob Bell. The lectionary has been edited to omit bible verses that are offensive, as you pointed out. On the agenda is a rewrite of the BCP, which will probably include non-biblical rites. Next, the non-canonical writings may be approved for use in our worship services. Then you have a rewritten Bible, something that has not occurred for nearly two thousand years!

Social Justice

What is social justice?

everyone is for it,

no one is against it, but

no one knows what it is.

We know that “social”

means interrelationship

of people in society, in

groups large and small.

We are afraid that justice is:

“Bring in the guilty SOB,

so we can give him a fair trial,

then take him out and hang him!”

"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said,

in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what

I choose it to mean—neither more nor less."   

"The question is," said Alice, "whether you

can make words mean so many different things.”

And that’s exactly what social justice is:

a concept that the user claims to follow

when only he or she knows what it is

supposed to communicate to the recipient.

It could be like Mrs. Pardiggle in

Dickens’ Bleak House who visited

the poor to aid them and also demonstrate

her superiority to the unfortunate.

Social justice has also been applied

to the redistribution of wealth, which

demonizes the rich, and often showers

undeserved benefits on the masses.

Even worse is the notion that

all persons are entitled to equal results

in their endeavors, rather than equal

opportunity to achieve them.

These and many other definitions

and derivations are covered in

extraordinary length in the article

on social justice in Wikipedia.

Takeover of TEC

The time is ripe to advocate.

organize, and mount a takeover

of The Episcopal Church and

restore its traditional beliefs.

TEC is bankrupt in ideas

and finances, rudderless, and

losing its grip upon a declining

number of members in the pews.

Fourteen years ago, a small

group of “progressive” activists

inflicted an agenda upon us that

destroyed the Anglican communion.

Since then, the rites and practices

of The Episcopal Church and its

cohorts have strayed further from

biblical and traditional beliefs.  

Now the novelty of same-sex

weddings, open communion, and

abandonment of repentance has

marginalized a once stately church.

Only a sturdy minority of such

clergy as The Community Partners

keeps the flame of orthodoxy alive

in its disparate jurisdictions.

They and concerned laity can be

the force of renewal, loudly

proclaiming truth and demanding

reversal of false doctrine.

Episcopal Evangelicals

Most people would think that

the term, “Episcopalian Evangelicals”

is an oxymoron, and that such

persons really cannot exist.

Not so, quite a few are

alive and well and singularly

untroubled by the ambiguity

of their position in their church.

First, there are the ancients,

those lifelong Episcopalians

who cling to a local parish

that they know and love.

It is not that they have

accepted the progressive

theology of the denomination,

they simply ignore it.

In some parts of the country,

notably New England,

there are few alternatives

to the Episcopal liturgy.

Therefore, our evangelicals

show up in Episcopal churches

to worship God and participate

in the community activities.

Greater numbers of

Episcopal Evangelicals

are found in traditional

parishes and dioceses.

Their parishioners take

the position of the leaders

of same who are committed

to traditional beliefs.

Then there are those clergy

who cling to their positions

in order to protect their

lifelong Episcopal pensions.

We cannot be critical of

any of these Evangelicals

because they represent a

stand against apostasy.

Update at St.David's

February 1, 2017

Update at St. David's

Our little Episcopal church
is  energetically continuing to
dig a hole already dug, without
much thought about the future.

They received a 10K grant
from the diocese and a
bequest of 35K from some
dear old soul who passed on.

Facing a budget deficit of 46K,
they decided to give away 33K
while at the same time drawing
55K from endowment funds!

Our new lady rector started off
on the right foot by returning
the Sunday service to Rite 2
of the Book of Common Prayer.

Then, apparently, the elders
talked her into reverting to a
sappy service stolen from the
Australian prayer book.

At rhe annual parish meeting,
she announced that she did not
want to hit the endowment again
to cover a planned deficit of 64K.

As the only way to avoid that
is to attract new members,
virtually nothing is planned to
market the church to reach them.

Meanwhile, the rainbow flag
and the Episcopal flag droop
listlessly from the message
board in front of the church.

The elders are seeking a grant
from the town to restore the
"historic" Mission house
used as office and thrift shop.

The building is a fire trap
that is falling apart, and could
never be rebuilt without tearing
it down to the foundation.

A few strangers have been
seen at the Sunday services,
apparently interested in seeing
and hearing the new preacher.

It is possible the present menu
of a dumbed down Catholic mass
is as much Christianity that the
unchurched will accept.

My advice to the rector was
simply, "Tend your flock."
Her concern for the people
is the best draw for new members.