It’s time.
The journey has been long, the struggle has been real. I’ve told myself again and again that I am Catholic now, and in my best moments, almost believed it.
In light of the recent extraordinary events occurring in the Anglican Communion, and their censure of the Episcopal Church, I’ve made the decision at last.
The time has come. The time has come to cut the cord, even if it holds up what remains of the bridge between me and the church that taught me to believe.
Don’t misunderstand. I love TEC. I will always love it. But the church that led me to Christ and inspired me to seek ordination is becoming a cult–a cult that worships a false Christ, a Christ TEC sees when it collectively looks in the mirror. A cult incapable of imagining even a reason to repent of its actions.
Then again, maybe the Episcopal Church is right. Maybe the Universal Church has got it wrong all this time, and that the blessing of same sex relationships, the practice of abortion and euthanasia, etc., may have been God’s will all along. But that’s the only justification TEC seems to give.
Same-sex marriage? God’s will. Abortion? God’s gift to women. Euthanasia? God hates suffering. God wills it. God wills it. God wills it.
If God truly wills such things, then I am content to be not just thought a devil, but a devil in truth.
To my Episcopalian friends: I am sorry, but I can no longer accept your invitation to worship with you. I can no longer sanction, by my presence or my participation, not only the Episcopal Church’s stance on such matters, but the prideful, dismissive way in which TEC defends it. There was no room for me before, there is no room now–and now, there never will be.
The cord is cut. The bridge collapses. May the chasm between us, by God’s grace, close until we can join hands again.
The Perfectly Ordinary Layman 