Now, no one seems to point with pride to the inclusiveness under which we were founded. Many traditionalists are trying to pull their property out of one province of the Anglican Communion into another, while progressive leaders are spending vast amounts of money to retain that property.
At the same time, the reality is that we still share many of the original traits of comprehensiveness: apostolic liturgy and leadership and Protestant freedom of conscience and theology.
I have realized only recently how much I cherished the "comprehensiveness" of the Episcopal Church. Not the least of my dissatisfaction with our church today is my recognition of how unclear it is what we stand for, and how little we really care to include fellow Anglicans with whom we differ. --J. Douglas Ousley
2 comments:
Very interesting thoughts. Christians, both in the context of the Anglican Communion and in the context of the worldwide body of believers, could (and should) do a better job at realizing that there is more to unite us--the Gospel of Christ--than to divide us.
Your observations are correct Doug. There seems to be a constant power struggle going on within our church. The Pope's visit to NYC, however, made me realize that in the end not only must the Anglicans unite and find common ground, but all of us Christians will have to unite in order to face the growing radical Islamic threat. The more we divide ourselves, the weaker we all become.
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