What Pledges to the National Church Support: Getting in Touch with the “Divine Feminine”

http://www.herchurch.org 
Ebenezer Lutheran Church/Her Church
Look at the couple of videos they have on their homepage in the left column…click the “Click Here To View Our Video” and click the YouTube under “A You Tube”
This is an ELCA parish…in full communion with the above “Oprism” in TEC…this is where your diocesan assessment funds go, folks!!!
Like the “Rt. Reverend” Carol Gallagher, I am also Cherokee…and Osage, Choctaw, and who knows what else…proud of my First Peoples heritage…but this is duplicitous bunk!!!  But it’s been done.  Remember…we already have had sage smoke “smudging” in the National Cathedral at KJS’ “enthronement”.

Everybody should be beginning to realize that there is no going back to the good old days. TEC will not, cannot, never change course. Any talk of an inside strategy for TEC is either self-deluding or mendacious.

This is similar to some Wiccan and Neo-Pagan practices…calling upon the “powers”, North, South, East, and West.  “...finding your own divinity”???  Uh, last time I checked, we are not The Divine.  Try to look for it, ladies, if you wish…but you won’t find it.

#2. A Senior Priest,
“Everybody should be beginning to realize that there is no going back to the good old days”. 
Senior Priest you are quite correct and here is where they are headed.

Wicca is a deep appreciation and awe in watching the sunrise or sunset, the forest in the light of a glowing moon, a meadow enchanted by the first light of day.  It is the morning dew on the petals of a beautiful flower, the gentle caress of a warm summer breeze upon your skin, or the warmth of the summer sun on your face.  Wicca is the fall of colorful autumn leaves, and the softness of winter snow.  It is light, and shadow and all that lies in between.  It is the song of the birds and other creatures of the wild.  It is being in the presence of Mother Earths nature and being humbled in reverence.  When we are in the temple of the Lord and Lady, we are not prone to the arrogance of human technology as they touch our souls.  To be a Witch is to be a healer, a teacher, a seeker, a giver, and a protector of all things.

Well, everybody has to believe something.  This is their “truth.”  Glad they use the Episcopal name for their beliefs.  Now who’s to stop them?

[I]t is important to emphasize something about the women who gathered on Friday night. Each was an authentic seeker, someone who was in good faith attempting to respond to the “God shaped vacuum” in her heart. ... The tragedy is that they were greeted on behalf of “the spirit of many names” rather than the life-changing Savior, Jesus Christ.

Well, no.  There are no authentic seekers after God.  Instead we see individuals authentically seeking after something ... anything ... to replace God.  And they end up in the National Cathedral listening to a medicine woman tell them about their own divinity.  This is not shocking.  This is the natural behavior of unregenerate man.  He suppresses the Truth, and worships rocks and trees.  He wants to be believe something ... anything ... but the Truth.

There was no ‘bait and switch’ here.  The participants did not travel across the country in hopes of finding some path to the Living God.  They knew what they were getting.  They were looking for a path to anywhere else.  The tragedy is not that pagans received them, and pointed them along the desired path.  The tragedy is that the human heart is so hard, it willfully and authentically seeks out pagans in the first place.

carl

“the spirit of many names”. Don’t we all just hearken back to V. Gene Robinson’s inaugural prayer to the “God of our many understandings”.  I prefer St. Paul’s reference to the “unknown” God in Athens from Acts 17:23(AKA “I AM”).

RE: “Any talk of an inside strategy for TEC is either self-deluding or mendacious.”

No it’s not.

But I don’t particularly mind your thinking that, if you prefer.  ; > )

On this link, commenter Dan Crawford said, “Smudging was used during the opening “Service of Reconciliation” at the October 2001 Wyoming Diocesan Convention in Dubois. The smudger walked through the convention room with the pot of burning buffalo and sweet grasses and sage; while smoke billowed from the pot, the smudger called on the four winds, and the sun and the moon, to “purify” the “sins” (described as “rigid thinking”, “judgementalism”, “intolerance” and the various “-phobias”) of the participants. ”

” As the conference opened, the assembled were led through a breathing exercise and a responsive chant: “Holy is the silence and Holy is the sound. Holy is each one of us and Holy is the ground.” “

How about “Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD of hosts”?
Oh, I forgot; that’s from the [ahem] Bible. We cant have any of THAT divisiveness about, now can we?

OK, then I wanna know what this simply amazing inside strategy for coup d’etat is…

Deacon Payne, the Forminator, is my new hero. I want to be just like him. Actually, I have most of that gear from being in the Army.

New boots, a black clergy shirt and collar…that’s all it would take. Oh, and a name tag.

When one isn’t even aware of (not to mention isn’t practicing) his or her OWN spiritual tradition, messing around with the spiritual traditions of other peoples is at best foolish, and at worst dangerous.

Lord willing I am ordained Deacon in the next few years, I may join you in following Deacon Payne, Seminary Formationator’s example…

We paid for this?

Elizabeth Lesser, co-founder of Omega Institute and guru to Oprah Winfrey, spoke about the importance of emotional and spiritual intelligences…
Lesser recalled the pagan history of what is now St. Valentine’s Day, at which time the Romans honored Lupa, the she-wolf who suckled Rome’s mythical founders, Romulus and Remus, and Juno, queen of the Greco-Roman pantheon. Said Lesser, “I think it’s time for us women to take back Valentine’s Day,” to “take it back for Lupa the she-wolf and Juno the fertile goddess, and Valentine.”

OMGodess

Once again, for everyone’s viewing pleasure: 
Deacon Payne:  Seminary Formationator

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=2026860857

Everybody should be beginning to realize that there is no going back to the good old days. TEC will not, cannot, never change course. Any talk of an inside strategy for TEC is either self-deluding or mendacious.

What did Christ tell us about faith the size of a mustard seed? He also told us, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” Mark 10:27

Yes…and there was also something about dusting off one’s sandals…

I’m just going to have keep my trust God on this. I can’t abandon the sick who do not know Christ in their hearts. Sometimes we hold the PB and her menions to the same standards that we hold people of true faith but since they are not Christians I have to look upon them as pagan without hope and in need of salvation. Some are called to walk away and others are called to stay as reminders of the hope and love of Jesus Christ. However, I appreciate your reminder of the choices that Christ has set out before us and say thank you my friend.

And blessings in your ministry…you are brave…

#12. Ralph,
“Deacon Payne, the Forminator, is my new hero”
Wait just a darn minute Ralph. Don’t forget that there are several black ops going on here. (don’t forget the Holy Spirit comes without observance).
Dcn Dale (AKA Dan Steel Crimefighter)
Crimefighters INC.

For those of us who remain in bondage, a little touch of Titus 2:9-15 came through in the Lectionary reading the other day,

9 Tell slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give satisfaction in every respect; they are not to answer back, 10 not to pilfer, but to show complete and perfect fidelity, so that in everything they may be an ornament to the doctrine of God our Saviour.
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all,* 12 training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Saviour,* Jesus Christ. 14 He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.
15 Declare these things; exhort and reprove with all authority.* Let no one look down on you.

Lord help me to be not just submissive but an “exhorting” slave too.

There’s little hope of cleaning up an organization like this, that takes such glee in being dirty.

Of all the reasons I’m glad I left TEC, knowing my contributions no longer funds this crap is way near the top.

I don’t even make money a consideration in anything that I do. It clouds the issues and keeps me from knowing what God desires of me. I contribute/tithe because God tells me too. Who it goes to and what it funds is in God’s hand to do with as He sees fit.

Jesus talked more about money than almost any subject.

So…what if I found out that by giving to a certain denomination that I am indirectly funding a ring of white slavery, abortions, pornography, Al Qaida, or any number of more VISIBLY ABHORRENT things…would I be subsequently culpable for that if I remained a financial contributor???

I understand we can’t always control what corporations do with their investments…or what the homeless man spends the $5 on when he walks away.  But this is the Church…will we be held accountable as guilty by association and contribution.  Is that a copout???  I’m not being critical.  I remember having to ask myself these questions while still in TEC.  I even ask myself if being in communion with Canterbury, with all its shenanigans, is culpability.  Hard questions.

When one is tied to an entity on paper, one is tied spiritually.

My Roman friends see that even though I am not in direct communion with TEC, I still am in indirect communion with them by being in communion with Canterbury.  But that is a question of ecclesialogy.

God knows my intentions and I trust him to see to it that the money serves the purposes he desires of it. What I meant by not considering money in my decisions is that in the example given above I would have disassociated myself from a group funding white slavery, abortions, pornography or Al Qaida regardless of whether I gave money or not. In the case of the TEC, it needs help and I cannot abandon it until the Lord moves me to do so. Again, I put my trust in the Lord to let me know when it is time to go. Some were instructed to leave and work for the redemption of the unbelievers outside the TEC, some of us are called to work for the redemption of the unbelievers inside the TEC. We each have our part to serve and the role God wishes us to fulfill, God bless us all. For now I am staying with the people who taught me what salvation meant after Christ washed me with His redeeming blood.

AP…I hope you know I wasn’t questioning your integrity.  I honor your free will and ability to discern your own walk.  Blessings as you serve Him, my friend.  I just realized that as an aspirant for ordained ministry, I could not make the vows inside the institution.  There are those I dealy love still in it.  But for the grace of God, I don’t know how they continue.  I guess like I did, until 2007.  So many thought I was bonkers for joining in the first place…but I wanted to be part of the solution…like you do.  But now I know I will do the most good outside.  Pax.

May God smile on your walk and give you the joy of His presence that we don’t deserve yet so desperately desire.

Peace

[5] PROPHET MICAIAH,

You wrote:

everybody has to believe something.

I have always asserted that to be the case. Having said that, I believe I will have a whisky and then toddle off to bed.

Blessings and regards,
Keith Töpfer

<hr length=“55”>
“The common belief that whisky improves with age is true. The older I get, the more I like it.”—[Ronnie Corbett]

I think Jeff makes a very good point when drawing the reporting of this spectacle to close:

While this activity at best was inappropriate for an Episcopal cathedral, and at worst was blatant pagan idolatry, it is important to emphasize something about the women who gathered on Friday night. Each was an authentic seeker, someone who was in good faith attempting to respond to the “God shaped vacuum” in her heart.

May the True Gospel, as received, go out with power.

Wait just a darn minute Ralph. Don’t forget that there are several black ops going on here. (don’t forget the Holy Spirit comes without observance).

The war against heterodoxy and syncretism needs many superheroes, Dcn Dale. The Holy Spirit works through people.

Time to open up a can of whoop-ass on ‘em. Drop ‘em for pushups. Let’s get ready for the New Inquisition. Don’t you think waterboarding would be more humane than the rack?

#32. Ralph,
“Time to open up a can of whoop-ass on ‘em”
Can you smell what the Deacon’s got cooking?
What a Rush!

Oy…Vey!

#30. Martial Artist,
“I believe I will have a whisky and then ‘toddle’ off to bed.”
That’s great MA but I have to follow the advice of Aris ‘toddle’. “Abstinence is easier than perfect moderation.”
Blessings Bro

There is a possible misdirection in the title to this story. Getting in touch with the “Divine Feminine.” How about this scenario from the Jungian Robert Johnson?

If a woman is to evolve past feminine adolescence she must break the unconscious domination of her subordinate, largely unconscious, masculine component [animus] which often dictates her relationship to the outer world.

(“She:Understanding Feminine Psychology”)I have a particular individual in mind here. Does anyone else see this? To me this is insightful because militant feminists seem to me to be behaving like adolescent boys.

After much delay, my wife and I finally made the decision to leave TEC over two years ago, and we have never regretted it.  We would have done so earlier, but I had committed to a leadership position and thought it only right to serve out my term as best I could, which was in hindsight perhaps a mistake; there was also simple inertia holding us back.  We had however long since grown very uncomfortable with the parish, the diocese, and the national church, given how far they have strayed from the faith once delivered.  Moreover, beyond the often beautiful and profound liturgy and music, there was no Christian nourishment to be had—certainly not from sermons or “Christian” education or in relationships with either the clergy or laity.  We were especially concerned because our young daughter needs a strong grounding in the Gospel and the example of a living faith not only from her family but also from a Christian community.  And there was absolutely no chance of that in our parish or any other TEC parish within reach; sadly, there are also no orthodox Anglican parishes nearby.

I understand and respect the decision of those who stay with TEC—they are doing what they feel led to do.  They can indeed be like a mustard seed, and perhaps their faith will play a role in bringing about the revival so necessary to reverse TEC’s march into the abyss, a course all too well illustrated by the non-Christian rituals described above.  And as has been said already, with God all things are possible.  I trust that all of us, inside or outside, are praying for TEC and for the Anglican Communion.

God’s magnficent blessing on you all!

Another Pilgrim, you do know in your example above that TEC does fund and support abortions through the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice?  It was a definite weight on the scale (among many) that tipped me to “leave”.

KTF!....mrb

#38. Mike B.
Where have you been young fella!
Blessings

Sorry, off on other adventures during the week of Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday.
Wife and oldest daughter in Paris and Rome, getting home tomorrow night.
Youngest daughter with her cousins at Disneyworld, just got back Sunday…
My son and I decided to take advantage of the lack of the “estrogen sea” we live in most days (yes, even our 3 dogs are female) and hit the road on a “no plans” driving adventure.  We ended up in Huntsville Ala and the Space/Rocket Center, then down to Cullman to Ave Maria Grotto and St. Bernard’s seminary.  Then to Atlanta where we visited my sister and saw the Aquarium, Turner Field, the World of Coca Cola (they should just call it Heaven!), the Fernbank Museum, and then back to BR.  No schedules, no plans, just me and my 13 year old “hitting the road”.  It was glorious!

Only one rule on our trips:  No eating at any restaurant you’ve tried before.  Every meal must be somewhere new.  That made it fun.

Hope you’re well DD!!....KTF!...mrb

#37 Thirty-Niner,
My experience was very much like yours, except that the parish to which I belonged was spiritually nourishing and the gospel was preached and the stated positions were “orthodox”.  That made it very hard to leave.  However, the rector steadfastly refused to allow any statement of dissatisfaction to flow to the bishop. 

Believing that the failure to protest heresy is equal to the heresy itself, my wife and I left.  We are now very happy in a CANA parish.  You state there are no orthodox Anglican parishes nearby.  Surely, there are other people who share your beliefs - have you thought about exploring a start-up?

#40 Mike B.,
Thanks for the update. ROFL from your tour.  I bet it would be even funnier if I could hear it in the Louisiana drawl.