Presiding Bishops' Pledges To Be "Inclusive" Are Elusive

by Joseph W. DeBragga

Past presiding bishops' promises of inclusiveness were wondrous;
to wit:
"There will be no outcasts in our Church." - Edmund Browning
"Help me rebuild our Church." - Frank Griswold
To this day, sad to say, these promises are unfulfilled. For more
than 25 years, scripture, reason, and tradition have been diluted by
secular fellowship and feel-good theology. Memberships in the Episcopal
Church continue to decline as does attendance at worship services, now commonly called masses.
Now we have politically correct get-with-it liturgy, folk/jazz
masses, skits and rain dances, and a divorced man in an active
homosexual relationship has become and remains an Episcopal bishop. In each of these instances pseudo-liberals ridiculed the objections of
traditional Episcopalians, and claimed that these innovations were divinely inspired and long overdue. "God is doing a new thing!" proclaimed delegates to the 2006 General Convention as they jumped on the secular progressive bandwagon.
Browning and Griswold, predecessors of our current presiding bishop,
Katherine Jefferts Schori, were profoundly articulate, rarely in doubt,
and often wrong. Their brand of "inclusiveness" doesn't apply to
orthodox, or traditional, Episcopalians, who are still ignored, while
the strength of the Church has not been restored.
In the early days of Presiding Bishop Schori's term, traditional
Episcopalians were encouraged to hear her proclaim reconciliation.
Having been ignored and ridiculed by pseudo-liberals, traditional
Episcopalians hoped there was at long last a presiding bishop who would
follow the constructive resolutions passed by our General Convention in
2000. Resolution B034 stated, "This Convention apologizes to any members of this Church who were offended or alienated by inappropriate and
uncharitable behavior during the time of transition from the 1928 BCP
to the 1979 Book of Common Prayer." Resolution A069 reads,
"This Convention affirms, that, for pastoral reasons, the texts of the Daily Offices and Holy Communion contained in the 1928 edition of The Book of Common Prayer remain available for occasional use."
Has your bishop abided by these resolutions? Has he or she encouraged, or even permitted, parish priests to be pastoral to church members who prefer to worship with the 1928 Prayer Book?
Let's hope and pray that our presiding bishop, unlike her predecessors,
will institute constructive actions for reconciliation within the Church
in the United States, and, further, extend those actions to include
the entire Anglican Communion.
I urge you to write to Presiding Bishop Katherine J. Schori at her
office, 815 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10017. Ask her to practice
true inclusiveness and encourage use of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer
throughout the Episcopal Church.