A Church Divided: Ruling Ends Va.'s Episcopal Battle
On a bright Sunday morning in the tiny town of Heathsville, Va., Jeffrey Cerar surveys the church he's preached in for the past 15 years — its 130-year-old wooden pews, its stained glass windows, its paschal candles, its cross.
"Virtually everything you see here is going to stay; the high altar, the credence table, the hymnals and books of common prayer will all stay," he says. "The Bibles will go with us."
Cerar, rector of St. Stephen's Anglican Church, is leaving, along with his congregation. They're handing the keys over to their theological rivals, the St. Stephen's Episcopal Church. Earlier this year, a judge ruled that seven conservative Virginia congregations that had split with the Episcopal Church must hand over almost everything they own. It's like the end of a marriage, with people moving out and splitting up assets — even its own long, ugly battle. Read more
2 comments:
Once again the episcopal organization has proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that it does not care one hoot about the spiritual well being of people or the Gospel; it is all about propaganda and property. It wants the money and if not the money then the property which it will eventually sell to anyone but a Christian just to deny those who would leave the organization continual use of the property. But then the description of the furnishings cast doubt on just how faithful that body is to the righteousness established by God in his Law and Gospel.
Amen, Joe, those observations are presuppositions to the battle. We've known these things for 3 decades, best I can tell. Even before those 3 decades, however, the rot and termites were in the beams and woodwork of the churches. "It just was what it was." Yet, hope and roses bloom in the desert and exile where we are. We're not American evangelicals, but Confessional, Protestant and Reformed Anglicans. Can't listen to many Americans on the matter, frankly.
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