Like an abdicating father arbitrarily deciding to discipline his utterly rebellious adult child for some minor offense, the Anglican Primates decided to punish the Episcopal Church for their "recent approval" of gay marriage.
How long has the Episcopal Church been hostile to Biblical sexuality? Here's the answer from her own webpage:
In 1976, the General Convention of the Episcopal Church declared that “homosexual persons are children of God who have a full and equal claim with all other persons upon the love, acceptance, and pastoral concern and care of the Church" (1976-A069). Since then, faithful Episcopalians have been working toward a greater understanding and radical inclusion of all of God’s children...
Along the way, The Episcopal Church has garnered a lot of attention, but with the help of organizations such as Integrity USA, the church has continued its work toward full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Episcopalians. In 2003, the first openly gay bishop was consecrated; in 2009, General Convention resolved that God’s call is open to all; and in 2012, a provisional rite of blessing for same-gender relationships was authorized, and discrimination against transgender persons in the ordination process was officially prohibited.
To our lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender brothers and sisters: “The Episcopal Church welcomes you!”
And yet, perhaps this is a good sign showing that the strength of the Anglican Church comes from being a global organization freed from the tyranny of a singular culture. Could this be the beginning of the non-Western Church taking a stick to the decadent West? Let's hope so...
Andrew Dionne is the pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Spartanburg, SC. He and his wife Sarah have six children. Read more from Andrew here.
