Episcopal Splits

Having grown up Episcopalian, I know that the motto "in all things moderation" has some cachet! It's almost bizarre to watch as the church of my childhood is being torn asunder by sexual politics. Although Gene Robinson is a focus of the debate, the fact that the new presiding bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, is a woman is likely a major culprit as well. Word comes in the Washington Post that 2 historic Northern Virginia congregations are about to vote on schism -- yes, I'll use the word the article doesn't -- by leaving the American church to create a separate organization under a Nigerian Archbishop, Peter J. Akinola, who supports a Nigerian law to jail gays. At the same time the conservative San Joaquin Valley diocese, which doesn't allow for women to be ordained, is in the process of voting to separate as a diocese.

Such schisms are not unprecedented. Division is a fact of life that affects even Anglicans. My own doctoral studies focused on one such schism -- the Nonjurors (though they believed that the main body split not them by disowning the legitimate king). In any case, this is a sad day for the Church at large!