Tuesday, June 19, 2007

The Episcopal church: Worse Than the Caricature?

by Kim Riddlebarger @ http://kimriddlebarger.squarespace.com

We all know that things in the mainline Protestant churches can get a bit wacky. In the last few weeks alone, the following items about the Episcopal/Anglican church have appeared in the news. The Episcopal/Anglican Church has fallen so far that you can't even caricature it any more.

The Seattle Times ran an article on an episcopal priest (Rev. Ann Holmes Redding--the woman on the right in the picture) who has become a Muslim. In this day, that's not a shock. The shock is that she is still an episcopal priest who still leads a congregation while worshipping at the local mosque! Click here: Local News | "I am both Muslim and Christian" | Seattle Times Newspaper. As the National Review Online put it, "with the benefit of hindsight, it should have been obvious that the first female imam would be an Episcopalian..."

And then there is this interesting news flash. What do you do when your unmarried priest gets pregnant? Click here: Unmarried priest quits top job after becoming pregnant | the Daily Mail. At least she stepped down.

Finally, imagine finding your Bishop drunk, and passed out in the backseat of someone else's Mercedes with a huge bump on his noggin? Click here: Clergy urge 'drunk' bishop to atone for his sins | the Daily Mail.

But does anyone see a pattern here? As one wag recently quipped: "don't try and caricature the Episcopal church! They'll just do you one better . . ."

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