What does recent decision of Anglican Church (denying gay marriage) mean for Episcopal Church ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the Synod forces Episcopalian Churches to abandon gay parishioners, the Church in the US dies. Conservatives have already left and been replaced by socially liberal christians looking for a more welcoming church. Loose them, and you don't have much left

There already isn't much left. Episcopal church numbers have been dwindling for years. Lots of parishes have been shuttered.

Meh. Big city diocese are doing as well as other denominations. My parents’ diocese in the south has 70 churches, with several with over 2,000 active members.

And yeah, this means nothing to ECUSA. The Anglican Communion can’t afford to sever ties with the American church. Those beautiful cathedrals and churches in England are attended by tiny smatterings of very old people and they’re kept alive through bequests. The Episcopal Church isn’t the Catholic Church and the Archbishop of Canterbury isn’t the Pope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the Synod forces Episcopalian Churches to abandon gay parishioners, the Church in the US dies. Conservatives have already left and been replaced by socially liberal christians looking for a more welcoming church. Loose them, and you don't have much left

There already isn't much left. Episcopal church numbers have been dwindling for years. Lots of parishes have been shuttered.

Meh. Big city diocese are doing as well as other denominations. My parents’ diocese in the south has 70 churches, with several with over 2,000 active members.

And yeah, this means nothing to ECUSA. The Anglican Communion can’t afford to sever ties with the American church. Those beautiful cathedrals and churches in England are attended by tiny smatterings of very old people and they’re kept alive through bequests. The Episcopal Church isn’t the Catholic Church and the Archbishop of Canterbury isn’t the Pope.

I'm truly glad for your parents' diocese, but TEC is hemorrhaging members. If wikipedia is correct, it has shed almost 1.5 million members in about a decade. It's not even among the top ten protestant churches in the US.

[Anonymous]

There are actually a lot of Episcopalians, even in politically and socially liberal congregations, who are into the whole British/Celtic aesthetic tradition. I think a lot of them will ignore what the Anglican Church says so long as we keep having lessons and carols services, singing All Things Bright and Beautiful, etc. I do wonder, though, what the response will be of the many Episcopalians and Episcopal clergy who are queer+/LGBTQ. Many of those folks left the Roman Catholic church because they were treated as sinners. Will they look the other way now? Doubt it.

[Anonymous]

I was baptized and confirmed in the Church of England. I am now a member of an Episcopal Church. I am also gay and all this saddens me. So happy we found a Church here that welcomes us though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are actually a lot of Episcopalians, even in politically and socially liberal congregations, who are into the whole British/Celtic aesthetic tradition. I think a lot of them will ignore what the Anglican Church says so long as we keep having lessons and carols services, singing All Things Bright and Beautiful, etc. I do wonder, though, what the response will be of the many Episcopalians and Episcopal clergy who are queer+/LGBTQ. Many of those folks left the Roman Catholic church because they were treated as sinners. Will they look the other way now? Doubt it.

Why wouldn't they look the other way? Their current bishops and churches welcome them and treat them with respect.

[Anonymous]

If the Anglican Communion had truly wanted to kick out the Episcopal Church, they would have already done so.

[Anonymous]

I mean I'm not surprised. The official Anglican Church stance is a consensus of a solid majority of the members usually and obviously the African churches (which are super conservative and don't even hold with ordaining women) wouldn't vote for LGBTQ acknowledgement. But the beauty of belonging to a church that intentionally does "not make windows into men’s souls" means that us over here in the Americas can keep on preaching and affirming tolerance and marrying whoever we want. I love not having a Pope.

[Anonymous]

You need to follow the money. The last numbers I have found show that the Epsicopal Church of the US provides between a quarter and a third of the Anglican communion finding with only about 2-3% of the membership. The C of E provides about half. It’s a problem for the Anglican communion because those African churches don’t provide much money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the Synod forces Episcopalian Churches to abandon gay parishioners, the Church in the US dies. Conservatives have already left and been replaced by socially liberal christians looking for a more welcoming church. Loose them, and you don't have much left

There already isn't much left. Episcopal church numbers have been dwindling for years. Lots of parishes have been shuttered.

Meh. Big city diocese are doing as well as other denominations. My parents’ diocese in the south has 70 churches, with several with over 2,000 active members.

And yeah, this means nothing to ECUSA. The Anglican Communion can’t afford to sever ties with the American church. Those beautiful cathedrals and churches in England are attended by tiny smatterings of very old people and they’re kept alive through bequests. The Episcopal Church isn’t the Catholic Church and the Archbishop of Canterbury isn’t the Pope.

I'm truly glad for your parents' diocese, but TEC is hemorrhaging members. If wikipedia is correct, it has shed almost 1.5 million members in about a decade. It's not even among the top ten protestant churches in the US.

Religious membership in generally has been plummeting - down 20% since 2000 across all denominations/faiths.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was baptized and confirmed in the Church of England. I am now a member of an Episcopal Church. I am also gay and all this saddens me. So happy we found a Church here that welcomes us though.

Every church welcomes sinners. What a weird comment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are actually a lot of Episcopalians, even in politically and socially liberal congregations, who are into the whole British/Celtic aesthetic tradition. I think a lot of them will ignore what the Anglican Church says so long as we keep having lessons and carols services, singing All Things Bright and Beautiful, etc. I do wonder, though, what the response will be of the many Episcopalians and Episcopal clergy who are queer+/LGBTQ. Many of those folks left the Roman Catholic church because they were treated as sinners. Will they look the other way now? Doubt it.

Why wouldn't they look the other way? Their current bishops and churches welcome them and treat them with respect.

Their current bishops and churches financially support the Anglican Communion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are actually a lot of Episcopalians, even in politically and socially liberal congregations, who are into the whole British/Celtic aesthetic tradition. I think a lot of them will ignore what the Anglican Church says so long as we keep having lessons and carols services, singing All Things Bright and Beautiful, etc. I do wonder, though, what the response will be of the many Episcopalians and Episcopal clergy who are queer+/LGBTQ. Many of those folks left the Roman Catholic church because they were treated as sinners. Will they look the other way now? Doubt it.

Why wouldn't they look the other way? Their current bishops and churches welcome them and treat them with respect.

Their current bishops and churches financially support the Anglican Communion.

Their current bishops and churches are among the strongest advocates for change, from the inside.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the Synod forces Episcopalian Churches to abandon gay parishioners, the Church in the US dies. Conservatives have already left and been replaced by socially liberal christians looking for a more welcoming church. Loose them, and you don't have much left

There already isn't much left. Episcopal church numbers have been dwindling for years. Lots of parishes have been shuttered.

Ours is bustling and growing with lots of age diversity … that is sad though … our tradition has so much to offer …

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was baptized and confirmed in the Church of England. I am now a member of an Episcopal Church. I am also gay and all this saddens me. So happy we found a Church here that welcomes us though.

Every church welcomes sinners. What a weird comment.

DP - welcome in the sense of full Inclusion with gay marriages and ordination of gays and respecting they are made in God’s image too - not some perversion of ideal humanity …

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was baptized and confirmed in the Church of England. I am now a member of an Episcopal Church. I am also gay and all this saddens me. So happy we found a Church here that welcomes us though.

Every church welcomes sinners. What a weird comment.

luckily the Episcopal Church doesn’t see my love as a sin.