I’m an Anglican, nee: “Episcopalian.” At one time, those two words described the same thing. Not today. As I’ve previously recounted on these pages, in the late 60’s and early 70’s, a new breed of Episcopal priests – all of whom espoused theology that was far to the left of the mainstream – infiltrated the Episcopal Church hierarchy and eventually took over. They subsequently enacted changes to our denomination such as the ordination of women, followed by the ordination of openly homosexual priests, culminating in the ordination of a practicing homosexual bishop and support for homosexual marriage with the blessings of the church. This has resulted in a cataclysmic schism within the largest group of Episcopal churches in North America, and the virtual excommunication of those that support this group, by Anglicans in the rest of the world. That much is fact. In the last week or so, another large diocese – this time in Fort Worth – has chosen to leave the mothership (a.k.a. “The Episcopal Church” or “TEC”) and align themselves with other Anglicans who cannot stomach this endorsement of theological liberalism. Predictions are now that, within the next year, there will be a new organization of affiliated Anglican/Episcopal churches in the U.S.A. – a group that will have the blessings of the worldwide Anglican community, and one that will offer an alternative for communion to the liberal TEC bunch.
The larger question is, “what happened?” How did one group – the secular/progressive/liberals – stage what amounted to a very quiet coup, and hijack an entire denomination? I’ve wondered about that for years. And now, thanks to the Reverend Dr. Peter Toon of the Prayer Book Society, I have the answer.
They rewrote the Book of Common Prayer – and used it as a tool to attempt to remake our faith. [Read more…] about How to Hijack a Religious Denomination.