Mark Steyn on the decline of the Episcopal Church USA:Which brings me to our second Jill: the new Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts Schori, the first woman to run a national division of the Anglican Communion. Bishop Kate gave an interview to the New York Times revealing what passes for orthodoxy in this most flexible of faiths. She was asked a simple enough question: "How many members of the Episcopal Church are there?"
"About 2.2 million," replied the presiding bishop. "It used to be larger percentage-wise, but Episcopalians tend to be better educated and tend to reproduce at lower rates than other denominations."
This was a bit of a jaw-dropper even for a New York Times hackette, so, with vague memories of God saying something about going forth and multiplying floating around the back of her head, a bewildered Deborah Solomon said: "Episcopalians aren't interested in replenishing their ranks by having children?"
"No," agreed Bishop Kate. "It's probably the opposite. We encourage people to pay attention to the stewardship of the earth and not use more than their portion."
Sure. The decline of the ECUSA is intentional -- brought about by ecological responsibility. Uh-huh.
Hat tip to someone, but I can't remember whom.
7 comments:
And she is so ecologically concerned that she will run one household in New York while hubby runs a separate one in Nevada.
Years ago, I was chatting with an Episcopalian about church history. He said the only reason that his denomination didn't have as many members as the UM church is because Wesley was a "hothead" and "stole" a bunch of Anglicans when he started the Methodist movement.
Whatever gets you through the day, I suppose.
Funny stuff.
Episcopalians and other mainline denominations suffer from major math deficiencies. If the children of Episcopalians were now attending Episcopal churches, instead of the non-denom down the street, they wouldn't be declining.
There is nothing to say about the Bishop's remarks, but I do have a serious question:
When Mohammed becomes the most common male name in Europe in the next few decades, will Mohammed be a Muslim or a follower of Jesus Christ?
The best stewardship of the earth's resources requires the rise of heroic leaders who will plant kingdom outposts across the globe and unleash God's people to make disciples.
If a church only grows by births or through transfer, it is already dead...
Ninety per cent of life is showing up.
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