THE MCJ

"It will never happen and it was never true of the early church."

Not true of the early church? Sheesh. I'll say it again: This is what you get when your theology comes from a Jack Chick comic.

To paraphrase Frederica Mathewes-Green:

"Some people think the early Church sat around in their jeans, talking about what a cool guy Jesus was."

Of course his statistics are wrong. If you are looking at attendance, women in the church comprise 60%+ of available resources, in his terms.

Which raises another point. Intelligence agencies discuss people as 'assets' because they wish to dehumanize them. It makes sending them into certain death easier. Calling people resources suggests that they are there to be mined, not ministered to.

But why would a minister wish to dehumanize his congregation?

The Episcopal Church: Our reality will outweird your surreality any day of the week.

First Adrian, now Ypsilanti ... really, I don't think there's something in the water here in southeast Michigan.

Ah, yes, St. Luke's. From their own history:

The Rev. Jasper Pennington arrived in 1983 and presided until 2001.

The Rev. Dr. JoAnn Kennedy Slater had an inauspicious beginning at St. Luke's. The parish was in turmoil, and Bishop Wendell N. Gibbs, Jr. warned the congregation that the doors of St. Luke's were in danger of being closed. That was the bad news; the good news was that he believed in St. Luke's and offered diocesan help. Even better news: The parish believed in itself.

I haven't set foot in St. Luke's in some time, but last I knew, harmony and diversity had been achieved. The parish contains a wide variety of opinions, from liberal to flamingly radical. And of course, if you hang a rainbow flag out front and keep congratulating yourself about how all are welcome that must make it true, right? Pay no attention to that bit of triumphalism showing -- only wrong-thinking people will be bothered by it, and while all are welcome, there have to be some limits, don't there?

God have mercy.

peace,

Zach

I wonder if the Rev. Pennington read the book and took it for sober history?

He ought at least to read a few Anglican works on the papacy, works like H. E. Symonds' *The Church Universal and the See of Rome* (1939), T. G. Jalland's very subtle and detailed *The Church and the Papacy* (1944), Gregory Dix's "papalist" (and posthumous) *Jurisdiction in the Early Church: Episcopal and Papal* (1975) or the more sceptical take found in the final two chapters of Eric Mascall's *The Recovery of Unity* (1958). One can derive different conclusions from these sources, nut never "never." But, then, who expects subtlety from the inept acolytes of the Ministry of Propaganda?

Diane

The Nigerians travel on diplomatic passports. That means they are subject only to the laws of their own country, and not subject to the laws of any other country - including England. The best the UK could do would be to render them persona non grata, and expel them - and as long as they had comitted no crime in a Nigerian jurisdiction, well no crime would have been committed.

So, I see it this way - the Hammer of God and his 300 bishops surround the TEC bishops and physically remove them from the communion. Then they leave the UK

And then the true classical Anglican discipline has been exercised, and the communion is saved.

Hardy, har, har. Hah, hah, hah, hah. That is hysterically good. This fellow is simply astonished as to why Roman Catholics have failed to accept the generous and loving graciousness, and the inclusiveness, diversity, and tolerance of revisionist Anglicans. These attributes are warmly exhibited in Rev. Pennington's comments. Hie thee hence! RCs into loving reconciliation with Rev. Pennington, and you too will share in the richness and fullness of the revisionist Anglican faith.

Now don't stampede all over each other. Just proceed orderly to your nearest TEc parish. And tell them Rev. Pennington sent you.

Our host has a big day to look forward to next week. According to an item at Virtue's site, all of the bishops and their wives are gong to be rounded up from the Big Top Circus and paraded around the streets of London next Thursday in support of the MIllennium Development Goals. Global Poverty will instantly vanish.

Progressives are just so cute when they get all anathema-y.

It's quite interesting to compare the current, excellent article there to the first version, which began, "Celtic Christianity is a modern revival of what is believed to be a more spiritually free form of Christianity abandoned after the Synod of Whitby enforced Roman Catholicism as the standard form of Christianity in the British Isles."

MoROSE, eh?.

The Boston Globe's headline is fradulent. These silly women will be ordained to nothing. They are religious frauds, just as the Globe is a journalistic fraud.

Mark,

It's because of our award-winning water tower">award-winning water tower.

peace,

Zach

Well, there are some revisionist Catholics who will join the revisionist Anglicans in voting for Obama. (Revisionist Anglicans support TEc being a supporter and representative of the Religious Coalition of Reproductive Choice)

"Yet today Catholics around the country are lining up to endorse Barack Obama’s candidacy for president of the United States. They are stumping hard for Obama, who, if elected, has promised to do whatever he can to appoint justices and support legislation guaranteeing decades of protection for Roe v. Wade.

Who are these Catholics? They are an eclectic bunch, from politicians like Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), Democratic Governor Tim Kaine (Va.), Democratic Governor Bill Richardson (N.M.), Representative Patrick Kennedy (D-Mass.), Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.), and Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) to Dan Rooney, owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers football team.

Read the rest at Roman Catholics for Obama '08

Fuinseoig--ROTFL!

Intelligence agencies refer to target country nationals working for them as assets. It is not usually used for their own intelligence officers (an "agent" actually means one of the target country nationals as well).

One's own officers are more likely to deliberately put at risk; agencies want the reputation of not exposing their foreign sources to any more danger than is inherent in passing your own government's secret information.