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UPPER SOUTH CAROLINA: Bishop Waldo Permits Congregations to Perform Same-Sex Blessings
NEWS ANALYSIS
By David W. Virtue DD
www.virtueonline.org
May 13, 2014
The Bishop of Upper South Carolina, The Rt. Rev. W. Andrew Waldo told his clergy he will permit congregations to perform blessings of same-sex couples, a decision reached after two years of intense theological discussions with pastors and parishioners. He went on to say that no clergy would be required to perform the rite. He said he will support all 61 of his congregations whether they choose to carry out the blessing ritual or not.VOL: We have seen this logic applied before over women's ordination. When it was first brokered into the Episcopal Church via the pansexual Paul Moore Bishop of New York, the act was deemed illegal. Never mind it was soon accepted on the understanding, of course, that no diocesan bishop would be forced to have women priests into their dioceses or ordain them. Over time that all changed, then it became mandatory in the name of women's rights. The same will happen with gay marriage in The Episcopal Church. Sooner or later, voluntary will become mandatory. You can count on it. A next generation sodomite bishop like Gene Robinson with an even greater capacity for public narcissism will make the case. History will repeat itself.
The decision, which came in the form of a pastoral and theological reflection, is expected to once again roil a state where Lowcountry Episcopalians already have exited the U.S. church in great numbers. Waldo, who often describes himself as a “radical centrist,” believes that by staking out a middle ground, he can keep his diocese from splintering. Yes, the tried and true "middle ground" strategy. Let everyone do what is right in his own eyes. What could possibly go wrong, opined one blogger?
There are only a handful (you can count them on one hand) priests in the Diocese of Upper South Carolina who believe that action is wrong, unbiblical and unhistorical. Most will either go along with it or stay silent. True Episcopalians (now Anglicans) who fully disagree with Bishop Waldo's stance are in the Diocese of South Carolina, which recently split into two with most coming under Bishop Mark Lawrence. Yes, they have exited in great numbers and will continue to dribble out of TEC. In time, aging and dying congregations and the failure to evangelize Millennials and Nones will catch up with this diocese as well.
WALDO: We would prefer to be together rather than apart even though opinions on the issue run from conservative to liberal.
VOL: The handful of conservatives in the diocese will not rock the boat, however conservative they might be. They will not resign, they will carry on as usual and stay as far under Waldo's radar as they can. (This happened with the handful of conservatives in the Diocese of Pennsylvania when Bishop Charles Bennison's horrendous reign was in full flower). If those handful had been in the Diocese of South Carolina, they would have departed and joined Bishop Lawrence. There is no split likely in Upper South Carolina. Waldo knows that so he is on safe ground in his endeavor to be "gracious" to conservatives. This is temporary. The diocese is already stacked in his favor and he knows that.
WALDO: I don't expect a flood of inquiries about performing the rite. I will require congregations and clergy to study the issue before seeking permission. Same-sex couples, like heterosexual couples, would undergo counseling, and at least one must be a baptized member of an Episcopal congregation.
VOL: Sure he will. They will get about as much counselling as Gene Robinson whose "marriage" to Mark Andrews fell apart recently. Gay marriages universally last between 18 months to 2 years before they fall apart. The 2003-2004 Gay/Lesbian Consumer Online Census surveyed the lifestyles of 7,862 homosexuals. Of those involved in a "current relationship," only 15 percent describe their current relationship as having lasted twelve years or longer, with five percent lasting more than twenty years. While this "snapshot in time" is not an absolute predictor of the length of homosexual relationships, it does indicate that few homosexual relationships achieve the longevity common in marriages. A study of homosexual men in the Netherlands published in the journal AIDS found that the "duration of steady partnerships" was 1.5 years.
WALDO: An Episcopalian whose congregation chooses not to perform the rite could approach a priest at a congregation that does.
VOL: For the moment, but that will change, history has shown that to be the case. The homosexual juggernaut and the homogenital fascists in The Episcopal Church will see to that and Waldo will roll over when the time comes.
WALDO: In making the case for the blessing of same-sex relationships, I “went head-on” with biblical scriptures that depict homosexuality as a sin against nature; studied the half-century debate within the U.S. church and the Anglican Communion over same-sex relationships; and examined the modern secular movement toward marriage equality and recognition of same-sex marriage. Recognizing that there is deep disagreement about this, I will argue that there is a firm biblical basis from which to shape a common life in which lifelong, monogamous same-sex relationships can receive the blessing of the church. Waldo.
VOL: Total garbage. This action was pre-ordained by General Convention. There is not a shred of evidence that Waldo would ever defy General Convention because General Convention resolutions trump Scripture and Waldo would not want the dragon lady Jefferts Schori breathing down his neck if a single priest were to file a complaint against him for his lack of inclusivity. Waldo said he found no biblical basis opposing same-sex marriage! Really. If he had gone "head-on" as he said, he would have come to a totally different conclusion. Just what Bible is he reading?
Did Waldo and his Task Force seriously read and study the seven passages in Scripture that expressly forbid homogenital sex or did he spin them into making them mean what he wanted them to mean to suit his post-modern understanding, deconstructing Scripture to accommodate the next generation Gene Robinson’s? Did he or his Task Force wrestle with Dr. Robert Gagnon's magnum opus The Bible and Homosexual Practice or The Truth about Homosexuality: The Cry of the faithful by John F. Harvey O.S.F.S. or Thomas Oden'sREQUIEM: A Lament in Three Movements or the less theological but still relevant Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth by Jewish psychiatrist Jeffrey Satinover, MD. Obviously not. The truth is Waldo fell for cultural accommodation not scripture or gospel truth.
Waldo said he has been moved by stories of faithful gay and lesbian parishioners who have felt marginalized by the church. Really. I have heard those stories. My brother in law used to tell me about them. He was a practicing NY therapist and in his 11th year of a "committed" relationship when he and his partner died of AIDS.
So should fornicators and adulterers who feel "marginalized by the church" be accepted into the church without repentance and amendment of life? Should the church marry all the sexual varieties that are coming down the pike….lesbitransgay… because one or two say they are in a committed bisexual relationship! Where does it end? The Roman Catholic Church still maintains that homosexuality is “intrinsically disordered” and they won’t even allow a divorced and remarried lay person to take communion for heaven’s sake! Somehow they hold onto their people while TEC slowly implodes. So why haven’t a bunch of serious Catholic priests and laymen formed a Task Force and declared the Church, the Pope and Magisterium all wrong on the issue and then go ahead and take communion anyway. Truth is they wouldn’t dare violate church teaching.
WALDO: Over the course of many decades, the Episcopal church “has made a discernment that this is a community that needs to be heard, a community of Christian brothers and sisters who need to be heard and responded to not just because they want to but because there are, in my view and in the view of many others, biblical and theological reasons to listen to those cries.”
In my judgment, and in the eyes of many Episcopalians, the fruits of righteousness can be as manifestly evident in the lives of partnered Christian gay and lesbian couples as they can in the lives of married heterosexual couples.
VOL: What biblical and theological reasons are there exactly? What about those Scriptures that say that "fornicators, adulterers, the effeminate and homosexual will not inherit the Kingdom" (I Cor. 6:9 & 12-20) if they continue in their behavior. Did Waldo miss those portions or was he beaten down with the notion that St. Paul was not into loving committed same-sex relationships and had no idea about 21st century sexual habits. Better still, write him off as a latter day homophobe or perhaps he had a bad spirit as Jefferts Schori thinks he did. The deeper truth is Waldo is gambling with the eternal destiny of people (including his own) by blessing these faux marriages.
WALDO: I expect my decision will ignite a flood of reaction and I am prepared for the vitriol that may ensure.
VOL: Happy to oblige. A few tepid voices will be raised, but they will be ignored or glossed over. There is no stomach left among a handful of orthodox priests to go against their revisionist masters. Those days are long gone. Most have left and joined the ACNA or are fighting legal battles over properties in dioceses like South Carolina and Ft. Worth.
Waldo said he also wants to “let the rope go slack” in the metaphorical tug of war that has splintered the church. He said he asks of his parishioners the kind of sacrifice that Jesus described in John 15:12-14, the passage known as the Great Commandment, “that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
This is a total misuse of Scripture. There is nothing "sacrificial" about sodomy and loving one another. What Jesus taught had nothing to do with same-sex sex, nor is it a license to promote same-sex behaviors.
WALDO: Some will say that you have to have a principle for justice; some will say you have to have a principle for scripture alone. I think John 15:12-14 calls us to something radically in the center.”
VOL: "Radical centrism" is a complete myth, made up by bishops like Waldo. There is no "radical center" any more than there is "generous orthodoxy" manufactured by former PB Frank Griswold. Those are license words to do anything you damn well please and then demand the church bless you and your behavior. The Anglican Church in North America is living proof that there is no "radical center". Furthermore, if Mark Lawrence had found it, he would have used it to prevent the legal and personal mayhem that has been visited upon him.
Waldo emphasized that this is strictly an ecclesiastical decision. South Carolina has not legalized same-sex marriages or civil unions, although 17 states and the District of Columbia now recognize same-sex marriage. "In the end, there is no legal force to what we do. It is a way for a gay or lesbian couple to live within the deepest Christian values for relationships between two people who are going to give their life to each other.”
VOL: So Waldo jumps ahead of secular law to promote some "new thing" that the state has not approved of because he wants to be an advocate ahead of his times…a latter day prophet. This is not prophecy; this is accommodation and capitulation to the culture and zeitgeist. Waldo is a theological light weight.
WALDO: We have opened the door to dialogue. Our deepest prayer is that it would lead to reconciliation throughout the church.
VOL: What world is he living in? Reconciliation disappeared a long time ago when hundreds of priests, dozens of bishops and the ACNA was formed. There is virtually no one left in The Episcopal Church to “reconcile” with. Does he think bishops Bill Love of Albany and Greg Brewer of Central Florida will be tamed into reconciliation? Again, what universe is he rotating in? we have a major world realignment of Anglicanism going on and he talks about reconciliation!
Waldo said he has no idea how many of his clergy and congregations will step forward to participate in the blessing.
One priest who won’t comply is the dean of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Columbia, SC who says he will not authorize the blessing of same-sex relationships in his congregation, but remains committed to “respectful conversation” on an issue that has divided the church in South Carolina and across the nation.
The Very Rev. Timothy Jones posted the letter to his congregation Thursday, the same day Bishop
Waldo, announced he would permit the provisional rite.
“As to my own prayerful reflection on this important issue, I do not believe that Scripture, Christian tradition, nor the Book of Common Prayer authorize me to bless same-sex relationships,” Jones said. “I know well, from years of conversation and study, the arguments brought forward by those who advocate such a blessing, but I have not been persuaded.”
But Waldo has other troubles. He faces a lawsuit from one of his former priests, the Rev. Dr. Ernie Pollock for defamation, civil conspiracy, invasion of privacy and economic hardship.
Pollock, 67, an adjunct professor of religion at Midlands Technical College who serves on the pastoral staff of Lexington Medical Center as a volunteer, alleges that Waldo sent letters to three health care facilities in the Midlands of SC alleging that Pollock had misrepresented himself as an Episcopal priest.
Pollock told VOL that he was ordained by the late Episcopal Bishop of New York, the Rt. Rev. Paul Moore in 2001. He described Waldo's letter as "libelous and defamatory, placing him in a false light."
Diocesan attorney Tony Rebollo told VOL that the case is “still pending”.
Last year Waldo settled another lawsuit for libel and slander after he fired the Dean of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Columbia, SC, Philip C. Linder and then publically badmouthed Ellen, his wife. The insurance company representing Trinity Episcopal Cathedral paid $75,000 to the wife of the former Dean to settle a civil lawsuit related to his ouster from the cathedral's top post in July 2010.
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