You are here
Is the Episcopal circle widening or getting smaller?
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
October 12, 2011
"God is always working with and through us to expand the circle of God's love until it includes absolutely everybody." -- The Reverend Canon J. Edwin Bacon, Rector of All Saints Church, Pasadena.
[The Rev.] Susan Russell, the lesbian priest of All Saints, Pasadena, inquires, "What kind of church are we going to be? The kind of church where the criterion for being included is being agreed with so it grows ever smaller as we find yet-another-thing to disagree about and divide over or the kind that is continuing to draw the circle ever-wider and include all those seeking to live their lives in alignment with God's love, justice and compassion?"
The Rt. Rev. Mark Lawrence, Bishop of South Carolina responds, "We face a multitude of false teachings which I have called the false Gospel of Indiscriminate Inclusivity."
Bishop John W. Howe answers, "The problem with your question, Susan, is that the church that continues to draw the circle ever wider grows ever smaller."
QED
