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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]NP here... I have a feeling that the OP is simply sick of the clergy using the pulpit as a political podium. We have the same issue at our Episcopalian church. It has become too political. I don't necessarily always disagree with the viewpoints being presented. However, I don't feel this is the proper place for the clergy to voice their opinions. They share their political beliefs on social media, in demonstrations, and in other places too.[/quote]

OP here.  Yes, this is exactly what I am trying to articulate!  [/quote]

Here's the deal. If you can't handle the social justice bent of the Episcopalian church, then maybe you need a new denomination.

You are calling things political and the clergy you disagree with would likely say this is not politics, this is about our sense of ethics, personal responsibility and living out the vows we made to God. If that makes you uncomfortable, then you do not share the same doctrinal background as your church. The clergy are trying to shepherd their flock toward what they believe is right morally, spiritually and doctrinally. If you are bristling at that, then you are in the wrong church.

Sitting in the church pew is not meant to be a comfortable solace from the real world where you get to listen to hymns and pretend its 1950 and all is well in the world for white people. It is ugly and hard out there and filled with injustices and your clergy are rightly railing against it. If you want sunshine and roses all the time and a high mass, become Catholic and go to a Latin service where you won't even know what's being said. Otherwise go to a nondenominational evangelical service and get used to the praise dancing and hand waving. [/quote]

+1. A minister is supposed to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted. [/quote]
The sermons at my Episcopal church are both full of "social justice" AND strongly rooted in the Bible, particularly the teachings of Jesus.  Indeed, I would say they are full of "social justice" BECAUSE they are rooted in the Bible.  But they are not self-congratulatory or partisan--they are meant to challenge our complacency, to deepen our commitment to the work of bringing the kingdom of God into the world.  Jesus sought out the oppressed, the marginalized, the poor; Jesus pushed back against the powerful and the wealthy.  If you think that a commitment to "social justice" is political and not, say, the result of faith in Jesus--well, I'm not sure that it's the right church for you.  [/quote]

Amen.  "I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me." Matthew 25:45

And, as an Episcopalian who grew up in the Roman Catholic church (and married into the Episcopal church), I have to gently suggest to those knocking the Catholic church that you might want to learn a bit more about its strong and steadfast social justice ministry.    [/quote]

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