[Apologetics] Re: Another Episcopal bishop decides to convert

Thu Sep 27 02:19:26 EDT 2007

Hi

I agree entirely with those sentiments.  Anglican ordination was invalid in the past, and for a large part, still is.  There are a few debatable issues today, where Old Catholic and various Orthodox bishops are included in the consecration.  In such cases, the correct intent and form are possibly there (I haven't checked the details) and many Anglicans are almost Catholic in their beliefs in the 7 sacraments, the Eucharist, and many other things, and the problems with ordination originally identified centuries ago may not be present in some cases.

It's an interesting debate ... one that is extemely hard to solve.  For the purposes of love [I forget the better word], a conditional ordination is suitable, although an absolute one I won't object to.  Either way, it effects a true one.

The Anglican communion has made a mess of things.  It's good to see such returns home.  It would be good to see an entire branch re-unite.

I find it hard to understand the reasoning behind waiting to get permission etc before leaving.  Once a decision is made, it seems logical to make a complete move ASAP.  But there are many factors involved.

God bless,
Stephen
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Art Kelly 
  To: Apologetics Group 
  Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2007 6:49 AM
  Subject: [Apologetics] Re: Another Episcopal bishop decides to convert

  Please read my comments on Bishop Stenson in the CWN
  blog at
  http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=53708
  and my prior comments on Bishop Pope at
  http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=52827
  as well as my comments on Anglican ordinations at
  http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=52537

  Art

  --- Dianne Dawson <rcdianne at yahoo.com> wrote:

  > Another Episcopal bishop decides to convert 
  > Posted: 23 Sep 2007 02:33 PM CDT
  >  For the third time this year, an Episcopal bishop
  > is leaving his flock to join the Catholic Church. 
  > 
  > The following comes from The Living Church
  > Foundation, which serves the Episcopalian church: 
  > The Rt. Rev. Jeffrey N. Steenson, Bishop of the Rio
  > Grande, will resign from his position and become a
  > Roman Catholic, The Living Church has learned.
  > 
  > In a letter to the clergy of his diocese, Bishop
  > Steenson said a pastoral letter to all the people of
  > the diocese would follow in a few days. He said he
  > had invited Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts
  > Schori to attend the Rio Grande clergy conference
  > Sept. 26.
  > 
  > "I . have sensed how important it is for those of us
  > in this position to model a gracious way to leave
  > The Episcopal Church in a manner respectful of its
  > laws," he wrote.
  > 
  > Bishop Steenson was attending the House of Bishops'
  > meeting in New Orleans and plans to make an
  > announcement concerning his decision on Monday.
  > 
  > In an interview with The Living Church to be
  > published in a forthcoming issue, Bishop Steenson
  > said the meeting of the House of Bishops at Camp
  > Allen in the spring had a major effect on his
  > decision.
  > 
  > "The spring meeting of the House of Bishops, when
  > the majority said that The Episcopal Church was
  > fundamentally autonomous and local," he said. "This
  > is not the Catholic doctrine of the Church, and it
  > will lead to many unfortunate consequences."
  > 
  > The bishop has been the diocesan in the
  > Albuquerque-based diocese since 2005. He was canon
  > to the ordinary under Bishop Terence Kelshaw for
  > five years before being elected to the episcopate.
  > Prior to that, he was rector of All Saints' Church,
  > Wynnewood, Pa., Good Shepherd, Rosemont, Pa., and
  > St. Andrew's, Fort Worth. He is a member of the
  > Board of Trustees of Nashotah House and the Board of
  > Directors of the Living Church Found
  > 
  > "My conscience is deeply troubled," he said in a
  > statement prepared for the House of Bishops,
  > "because I sense that the obligations of my ministry
  > in The Episcopal Church may lead me to a place apart
  > from scripture and tradition. I am concerned that if
  > I do not listen to and act in accordance with
  > conscience now, it will become harder and harder to
  > hear God's voice."
  > 
  > Bishop Steenson said he had spoken with the
  > Presiding Bishop "for her counsel and prayers," and
  > said he would ask the House of Bishops for
  > permission to resign as the ordinary of his diocese.
  > He said he would do this by the end of the year, and
  > added that he hoped then to be released from his
  > ordination vows in The Episcopal Church.
  > 
  > He called the bishops' meeting last March "a
  > profoundly disturbing experience for me. I was more
  > than a little surprised when such a substantial
  > majority declared the polity of the Episcopal Church
  > to be primarily that of an autonomous and
  > independent local church relating to the wider
  > Anglican Communion by voluntary association. This is
  > not the Anglicanism in which I was formed, inspired
  > by the Oxford Movement and the Catholic Revival in
  > the Church of England . honestly, I did not
  > recognize the church that this House described on
  > that occasion."
  > 
  > Regarding his move to the Roman Catholic Church,
  > Bishop Steenson said, "I believe that the Lord now
  > calls me in this direction. It amazes me, after all
  > of these years, what a radical journey of faith this
  > must necessarily be. To some it seems foolish; to
  > others disloyal; to others an abandonment."
  > 
  > Bishop Steenson will be the third bishop of The
  > Episcopal Church to become a Roman Catholic this
  > year. Bishop Dan Herzog of Albany moved shortly
  > after his retirement in January. Bishop Clarence C.
  > Pope, retired Bishop of Fort Worth, returned to
  > Roman Catholicism in August.
  >  
  > Like a deer that longs for running waters so my soul
  > longs for you, O God.
  > Ps 42:1
  > 
  > 
  >      
  >
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  > 

  ART KELLY, ATM-S
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