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| Gaylin Schmeling's Episcopalian graduate school was Nashotah House - STM. |
THE Anglican Church of Canada has
a death wish. Its leaders are doing and saying things that to a trained
psychiatric ear and eye would set off alarm bells and put the Church on
suicide watch.
The
recent 43rd General Synod authorized a set of gender-themed liturgies,
including a blessing on gender transition, for use in the Anglican
Church of Canada--in dioceses where they have been authorized by the
bishop. In 2021, the Council of General Synod voted to authorize the
liturgies for study, trial use and evaluation. Well, now it is a done
deal.
Up
until 2021, they had been for trial use, but now Synod has decided that
they will be added to the Book of Alternative Services as official
liturgies. According to news reports, some clergy and lay delegates at
Synod spoke against adopting the liturgies, but the majority spoke in
favor.
Evangelical
Canadian blogger David of Samizdat noted that this action illustrates
the delusion that has bedeviled the ACoC for decades. Doing more of what
has brought it to the verge of extinction will, for some
incomprehensible reason, reverse the decline.
It
won't of course, it is merely another nail in the coffin of the ailing
church. The church can barely muster 90,000 on any given Sunday. All the
while, the population of Canada has soared from 36 million to 40
million over the last decade. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/anglican-church-canadas-death-wish
***
SEWANEE,
the Episcopal University recently celebrated its first transgender
theology student and postulant for Holy Orders. The Episcopal Church's
only university says Kelton Riley, T'23, will undergo formation for the
priesthood at the School of Theology.
Riley, who goes by his last name, says that he has felt "celebrated" at Sewanee.
Sewanee is one of the worst colleges in the US to study at, according to
the Herald Weekly. In a study titled, The Worst Schools in the U.S, the
Episcopal University was ranked 18th. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/sewanee-university-celebrates-first-transgender-theology-student-and-postulant
***
CENTRAL FLORIDA.
The new Episcopal Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Justin Holcomb is an author of
some considerable theological weight. He has written over 20 books. One
of them is about heresy, but Holcomb fails to see the irony in belonging
to an apostate Church
The
evangelical Episcopal Bishop holds a Ph.D. in theology, which only a
small handful of bishops presently possess. His resume is revealing in
its affirmation of orthodoxy. By any standard, Holcomb's books would
rank him high in the pantheon of bishops in the Anglican Church in North
America had he not first sworn fealty to The Episcopal Church.
He
blasts John Shelby Spong for his heresies, but feels no disconnect that
he has taken a job in a diocese and province that is at odds with 85%
of the Anglican Communion over sexuality issues.
The
diocese, despite its conservatism, has suffered the same fate as its
progressive brethren. Attendance, the true bellwether of diocesan
health, revealed that the ASA in 2012 was 13,294. By 2021, the AWA (now
Average Weekly Attendance) was 6,960, a whopping drop of 6,334 or nearly
48%. You can read more here: https://virtueonline.org/central-florida-new-episcopal-bishop-writes-about-heresy-fails-see-irony-belonging-apostate-church
With almost delicious irony, as this digest was going to press, it was revealed that the Canterbury Conference Center owned
by the diocese is in serious financial trouble and is suspending its
operations for the foreseeable future. The center is running at a
deficit of $40,000 a month. https://virtueonline.org/central-florida-suspends-operations-canterbury-conference-center
***
ELS- Bethany Lutheran Seminary's Gaylin Schmeling Earned His STM at Nashotah House.
NASHOTAH HOUSE found
itself in the middle of a bruhaha this week. A married homosexual
postulant had his education rescinded at the Anglo-Catholic seminary,
because of his marital status. According to an article in ENS, seminary
Dean Garwood Anderson okayed the education, but three ACNA board members
pushed back and said no.
Geoff
Clark-Tosca, 45, said he discerned a spiritual call to study theology
and said Nashotah House Theological Seminary was his first choice.
Clark-Tosca
told ENS he was stunned at the rejection by several members of the
board who were active in the ACNA. He said that Anderson, too, seemed
distraught over sharing what the dean described to him as an ultimatum
from members of the seminary's governing boards. The question is why
Anderson was not fully on board with his governing council? You can read
the story here: https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2023/06/30/document-reveals-nashotah-house-rescinded-seminarians-acceptance-because-he-was-gay-married/
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