Posted to the Yahoo Episcopal Group Mailing List" Tweeting Like Crazy

See: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/episcopalchurch/message/42396

GC 2009 is at this very moment debatting Resolution D025, which if adopted, will
for all intents and purposes repeal B033, and remove all prohibitions, if not
outright encourage openly practicing homosexuals to be ordained into all three
clerical orders. My diocese, the Diocese of Virginia, once again is publishing a
newsletter, the Center Aisle, which is dedicated to the fiction of a compromise
solution on all matters, including and most importantly pertaining to human
sexuality. You can find the special edition of Center Aisle which includes the
text of D025 here:

http://www.centeraisle.net/Issues/Sunday_July12_issue.pdf

---------------------------------------------------------------------

The Resolution in Question: D025, Commitment and Witness to Anglican Communion

Resolved, the House of Bishops concurring, That the
76th General Convention reaffirm the continued participation
of The Episcopal Church in the Anglican Communion;
give thanks for the work of the bishops at the Lambeth
Conference of 2008; reaffirm the abiding commitment of
The Episcopal Church to the fellowship of churches that
constitute the Anglican Communion and seek to live into
the highest degree of communion possible; and be it
further

Resolved, That the 76th General Convention encourage
dioceses, congregations, and members of The Episcopal
Church to participate to the fullest extent possible
in the many instruments, networks and relationships of
the Anglican Communion; and be it further
Resolved, That the 76th General Convention reaffirm
its financial commitment to the Anglican Communion and
pledge to participate fully in the Inter-Anglican Budget;
and be it further

Resolved, That the 76th General Convention affirm
the value of "listening to the experience of homosexual
persons," as called for by the Lambeth Conferences of
1978, 1988, and 1998, and acknowledge that through
our own listening the General Convention has come to
recognize that the baptized membership of The Episcopal
Church includes same-sex couples living in lifelong committed
relationships "characterized by fidelity, monogamy,
mutual affection and respect, careful, honest communication,
and the holy love which enables those in such relationships
to see in each other the image of God" (2000-
D039); and be it further

Resolved, That the 76th General Convention recognize
that gay and lesbian persons who are part of such
relationships have responded to God's call and have
exercised various ministries in and on behalf of God's
One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church and are currently
doing so in our midst; and be it further
Resolved, That the 76th General Convention affirm
that God has called and may call such individuals, to any
ordained ministry in The Episcopal Church, which call is
tested through our discernment processes acting in
accordance with the Constitution and Canons of The
Episcopal Church; and be it further

Resolved, That the 76th General Convention acknowledge
that members of The Episcopal Church as of
the Anglican Communion, based on careful study of the
Holy Scriptures, and in light of tradition and reason, are
not of one mind, and Christians of good conscience
disagree about some of these matters.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
My comments are confined to these. I have actively followed five General
Conventions now, since 1997, and seen the unending appeasement
of sin and error by the same old people, and the continued building of one
resolution upon the other, if and only if it supported the end objective of
legitimizing conduct which is pretty clearly condemned in both the Old Testament
and the New Testament. My own position has been, well, (1) consistent in
opposition to this trend and (2) generally condemnatory against those who seek
to sweep the issue under the rug, mitigate the temporal and eternal consequences
of sin, and engage in a form of causistry that makes exceptions to be the rules.

A few minutes ago, I tweeted out a retort to the "Episcopal Cafe" - an typically
liberal twitter site demanding the following answer as to the standard to be put
in place by D025. Is the incoming standard to be the "Jeffrey John" standard:
openly homosexual and professing celibacy in a committed relationship, or the
"Vicky Gene Robinson" standard: openly homosexual, and not professing celibacy
in a committed relationship ?

I believe that the language of D025 is not at all unclear on this point...what
is being asked of the Episcopal Church is to accept and embrace the "VGR
standard", and to caste all semblance of Christian sexual morality to the wind,
once and for all. And it will be argued in response to the wounded consciences
of those who are acknowledged to disagree that "General Convention has spoken".
Causa finita est.

I usually get to this point at least once per General Convention. That is, when
things are looking very bad, I usually give out a little pep talk about how God
is in control and things work for good for those who love the Lord and are
called according to His purpose. I need not overly reiterate those sentiments,
and in fact my blog talks to this theme in my response and rebuttal to the PB's
opening remarks.

But I cannot help but note that I believe that the Episcopal Church is, in this
particular resolution, passing the point of no return. Yes, there have been many
such points suggested - at least for the past nine years, if not the last 15-33
years. But I do think this is it. It is difficult to imagine any scenario
whereby the Episcopal Church, and very possibly the Anglican Communion, can
recover from the passage of this resolution in the form it now stands. The
contradictions, which many have gone great lengths to deny (I recommend reading
the Center Aisle for that kind of thinking), will simply become too obvious to
ignore or deny.

As always, and as companies warning during their quarterly earnings
presentations, I hesitate to predict the timing and scope of the consequences
that will inevitably result. In the past, I have managed to retain 100% accuracy
in predicting that the consequences, simply put, will be negative, without going
into hyperbole as to their severity. Selling the Episcopal Church short has been
a kind of superogatory ritual done in three year cycles, but what doth it profit
the soul thereby. Nonetheless, this year, I am taking an unusually bearish
approach: I am predicting a kind of spiritual market crash, with correlated
financial results, if GC 2009 "breaks out" of B033 as the D025 strongly
suggests.

As they say on the Street.com - this is the "news you need".

Bill Riggs
Fredericksburg, VA