Thursday, December 18, 2008

P.B.: New Province Formation Counter to Tradition

http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2008/12/17/pb-new-province-formation-counter-to-tradition

[The Living Church] 18 Dec 2008--Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said the recent formation of a new North American province that includes four Episcopal dioceses and a number of individual parishes runs so counter to church tradition that it is “an oxymoron to us.” She made the remarks Dec. 16 during a question-and-answer session following an address to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

“One of the reasons for the ancient tradition of not having two bodies is so that we can be in communion,” she said. “When one body says it is not part of you, then it is not in communion with you. It violates the root belief that we are one.”

When there is a breakaway part, she continued, then The Episcopal Church’s relationship to that separated part “becomes an ecumenical relationship,” not a communion relationship – somewhat similar to The Episcopal Church’s relationship with the Lutheran Church.

Aren't openly gay clergy and same sex blessings "counter to tradition"?

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