Woodward's Essays on
“The Undermining of the Episcopal Church”

The Episcopal Majority, an organization dedicated to providing information, advocacy and support for Episcopalians wanting to remain in the Episcopal Church, has just published a booklet, “The Undermining of the Episcopal Church,” consisting of four essays by Tom Woodward. At the request of several bishops, priests and lay leaders from around the country, the booklet was distributed to each bishop attending the recent meetings of the House of Bishop in New Orleans . Tom will have copies available at cost ($5 donation to The Episcopal Majority) next Sunday.

The essays are entitled:
     Part I: Cheap Substitutions Are Not Acceptable
     Part II: Blasting Away at the Bedrock
     Part III: A Case of Spiritual Adultery
     Part IV: Replacing the Christ with a Code

The booklet concludes: “Here is the deal: The Episcopal Church could sacrifice the centrality of our Book of Common Prayer, our reverence for Holy Scripture and its study, our understanding of life as sacramental, our belief in the authority of the laity in the governance of the church, our trust in the vows our clergy make, and our longstanding refusal to countenance a morality which is neither Christian nor moral. Even if we bartered away those topics I have addressed…what would we get in exchange? We would get to revert to the primatial oversight we rejected at the birth of our church – and we would gain the evil authority to proclaim that such people as Michelangelo Buonarroti, Sir John Gielgud, W.H. Auden, Ned Rorem, Lily Tomlin and thousands upon thousands of men and women who have given their lives for Jesus Christ have, according to St. Paul's teaching and Lambeth 1.10, no place in the Kingdom of God.

“That is a proposal we can and must refuse. Our bishops must turn it down for the sake of all that we hold precious.”

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© 2007 St. Bede’s Episcopal Church, Santa Fe, New Mexico