Resolved, the House of _______ concurring, That this 76th General Convention of this church affirm the conclusion of the Church of England at its February General Synod and direct the House of Bishops' Committee on Theology to report back to the 77th General Convention on "their understanding of the uniqueness of Christ in the United States multi-faith society, and offer examples and commendations of good practice in sharing the gospel of salvation through Christ alone with people of other faiths and of none."




EXPLANATION

Indicative of our support and appreciation for the presence of the Archbishop of Canterbury at this General Convention and his leadership of the Church of England in Christian witness within the multi-faith culture of the United Kingdom, this resolution affirms that the Episcopal Church is in substantial agreement with the Church of England General Synod which directed its House of Bishops at their February 2009 meeting to report back on "their understanding of the uniqueness of Christ in Britain's multi-faith society, and offer examples and commendations of good practice in sharing the gospel of salvation through Christ alone with people of other faiths and of none."

Supporting document "General Synod 2/11/09" is posted and available in hard copy in the General Convention Secretariat until the end of the 76th General Convention.

Wow. So they couldn’t even bring themselves to pass a resolution affirming the uniqueness of Christ? I thought I couldn’t be surprised anymore.

I had time to go to Mass this afternoon, and was glad I did. Today’s Epistle was from II Timothy and included the following verses:

  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but having itching ears, they shall heap to themselves teachers in accordance with their own lusts.
 
  And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned toward fables.

  But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill thy ministry.

    …
 
  I have fought a good fight; I have finished my course; I have kept the faith.

 
  Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me on that Day—and not to me only, but unto all those also who love His appearing.
 

Which was exactly the sort of thing I needed to hear, given the news coming out of GC today.

How utterly tragic.  I think we had a thread on this back in Feb. at T19, maybe here too, re: what would happen if TEC were challenged with the same resolution that CoE passed overwhelmingly.

Now we know.  Sadly, not a surprise.
Kudos to W. Louisiana for trying and caring.

Here’s the cache of the thread I was thinking of at T19
link here

The Church of England passed its motion in Feb. by the following OVERWHELMING vote margin:

For : 283
Against : 8
Abstain : 10

Details here:
http://www.peter-ould.net/2009/02/11/the-uniqueness-of-christ/

BabyBlue notes that someone asked about this resolution in tonight’s press conference.  Here’s what Mary posted.
http://babybluecafe.blogspot.com/2009/07/tuesday-evening-press-briefing.html

A question is now being asked about 2020 - C069 “Affirming Christ” was defeated before it got to the floor. How can evangelism be taking seriously when they are defeated before they get to the floor. The bishop of Northwest Pennsylvania admits that the church is not growing but says the church is about reconciling the world to God in Christ Jesus.

Ugh

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How long did it take the HOD to strangle this one?  Five minutes instead of the twenty minutes for “debate” on the Title IV amendments last night?

“But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.”

Heresy….plain heresy…..now I have a question…..by denying the uniqueness of Christ could that be similar to blaspheming against the Holy Spirit?

I think this saddens me more than anything else that has happened. Schori’s assertion that individual salvation is a Western heresy and idolatry was the statement of one person rejecting Christ. But this is a rejection of Christ by all of the lay and clergy in the House of Deputies. 

“Oh My People, what have I done unto thee? How have I wearied thee? Testify against me.”

This reminds me of a quiz question you might hear on NPR’s “wait wait don’t tell me”.  Which resolution did the general convention of the Episcopal Church not pass: a) a resolution to change church forms to include your preferred gender pronoun; b) a resolution allowing transvestites to be ordained; c) a resolution allowing same sex couples to marry; or d) a resolution affirming Christ.  Really.  This is absurd!!!

This emphasizes the difference between the General Convention church and Anglicans.  The CofE overwhelmingly approves a study on how to more effectively present Christ to non-believers in the UK; the GC church summarily dismisses its counterpart in the US.

This is a twin to the D025 decision.  GC does not uphold the traditional faith of Scripture and Creeds.  It cannot advocate presenting the uniqueness of Christ to non-believers because it is among them.

May God bless and guide those who remain and yet believe.

What more could I have done unto thee that I have not done? I indeed did plant thee, O My vineyard, with exceeding fair fruit: and thou art become very bitter unto Me: for vinegar, mingled with gall, thou gavest Me when thirsty: and hast pierced with a spear the side of thy Saviour.
Cantor I: Agios o Theos.
Cantor II: Holy God.
Cantor I: Agios ischyros.
Cantor II: Holy mighty.
Cantor I: Agios athanatos, eleison imas.
Cantor II: Holy and immortal, have mercy upon us.

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Can you tell I’m utterly disgusted?

Long Gone, I understand the sentiment but I’d urge you to find more appropriate ways of expressing it.

Thanks

Yet more proof that TE cannot rightfully claim the C anymore.

Woe.

It cannot advocate presenting the uniqueness of Christ to non-believers because it is among them.

TEC has become a shell of a Christian church. I don’t understand how they define themselves now, but I don’t see how they can claim the title of Christian and it seems that those who voted on this had no wish too.

Greg, Sarah, Matt+, Jackie and David, it occurs to me that for non-TECers checking in on the blog, it would be most helpful to have a succinct score sheet stickied on top with the major votes (yes or no) listed with the gist of the resolution concerned. JanDioMA’s summary (#8?) is shattering.

Karen B., thanks for the reminder of how the CofE responded to a similar resolution - could the diffference between TEC and the Anglican Communion be writ any larger?

Also, can anyone point me to background on the Ecuadoran situation? I have missed the details on that one. TIA.

This is pretty bad.  When one takes it all together, it certainly appears to be “God gave them up to their passions,” “exchanged the truth for a lie” type of stuff.

If you consider yourself a Catholic Anglican, I’m at a loss for how ECUSA remains a tenable ecclesiastical home.  It seems - and I’m happy to hear the counter-arguments - that one has to be a congregationalist, at this point, to remain in ECUSA.  Of course, if you’re a congregationalist, you should have no problem, all other things being equal, with being in ACNA.

I’m one of the people who thought that the greatest tragedy of 2003 was not Robinson’s confirmation, but the rejection of B001. Six years later, it looks like the same thing is happening - resolutions such as D025 will overshadow the worst action of the convention: the rejection of C069. While moving away from Biblical standards of sexuality is wrong, it’s nothing compared to the outright hatred and revulsion this so-called church has shown to its own God.

As it says in the letter to the Hebrews, the Episcopal church “has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant, and has insulted the spirit of grace.”

Given the opportunity in this resolution to at least pretend to give Jesus Christ the honor and glory due to Him, they have instead spat in His face and said “your sacrifice on Calvary was completely worthless - we liked you better when you just went around and said nice stuff like ‘judge not.’”

We need to send a loud and clear message to anyone watching: This is not about church property, this is not about homosexuality, this is not about the Anglican Communion, this is about our savior, redeemer, and God, Jesus Christ. This is about a ‘christian’ organization that openly abhors the Gospel and mocks Christ. There’s nothing funny about it. It’s not progressive, it’s not enlightened. It’s satanic (1 John 2:22).

Whatever happens during the rest of the convention, the rejection of C069 deserves to be remembered as the defining moment.

Actually LDW1988 it is a pattern of behavior.  In 2003 it was B001 as you note and then in 2006 there was the “Jesus is Lord” resolution.  Fr. Philip Turner (RCC) wrote about “working theology” vs official theology in <u>First Things</u> (June/July 2005).  I would say that the working theology of TEC is thoroughly heretical.