Turmoil in the Episcopal Church

I don't believe that a loving God, whom I believe in, would abandon those who He has created. Having said that, I think that when I get to heaven, I am going to be surprised those who are there. Further more I don't believe that we have a corner, so to speak, on the mind of God.  Granted there are some "far out religions", and having said that, I believe that my God will look at the heart of person, not their religion. The unforgivable sin as mentioned in the Bible is blaspheme against the Spirit. ( Matthew 12:32). We are admonished also to be "aware of wolves in sheep clothing."As a 70, almost 71 year old, I am still discovering the truths of God. Having been an aerospace engineer, prior to being a pastor, I look at the Bible as a "manual of operation."

It breaks my heart to see what is going on in the national and local Episcopal churches.  The Charleston Diocese is one of the original nine (9) dioceses which formed the National Episcopal Church in 1785. Today we have 70 Congregations consisting of 29,196 members. Now walls are being built anger and hostility is groaning between brothers, sister and clergy. Dialogue and networking has been drastically damaged. Those in authority both locally and nationally have lost their focus causing blurred vision of the original purpose of the "church". Our own Diocese here in the low country is fractured, Our Bishop Mark J. Lawrence is no longer a bishop, because of his theological differences and practices of the The National Episcopal Church. He refuses to conform to the canons, and his ordination promises when ordained as a priest and as a bishop resulting in his, at this time, temporarily been removed as bishop and priest. And renounces the National Episcopal Church Authority. It has been said that he, Mark Lawrence is accountable to no one.

He has called for a diocese convention for November 17th to meet about this situation. It not just about the bishop and his refusal to conform to the National Episcopal Church but it effects the local individual church, church properties and contents as they are owned by the National Episcopal Church. The bishop has issued "quitclaims" illegally to every church in the diocese to try to maintain individual ownership of each church, property and contents. Wow! What a mess.

God in His infinite wisdom has a "chain of command" in a certain "pecking" order so to speak. Having said that, Scripture tells us, "to obey those in authority over us.(Hebrews 13:17). Hebrews 13:1 states, "Let brotherly love continue," One of my favorite Parts of the Bible is found in Hebrews 11. The key words are "By faith."note how many times that phrase is mentioned. I am afraid that the Episcopal Church as a whole is so fractured that it is going to take a long time for it to come together once again as a unified body.We have become like little children disobeying not only our doctrine and canons, but our God. My prayer is that we will stop our infighting and fast and pray for unity once again within the church. "Let the church be the church and the people rejoice..." Pastor Kaye +