Where have all the Righties gone?

Last night I had a conversation with a dear friend and a brother in Christ. He is a priest in a "moderate to left" diocese.

As is normal, we skated around the elephant in the room until he said,"So you guys going with Africa or what?"

I answered,"If by that you mean are we leaving ECUSA and coming under the authority of an African Bishop or something like that, no. We are seeking a different headship from the West (at this point). As it was explained to us by our Bishop this weekend, it is a temporary solution to a problem that has no precedent."

"That's too bad, the voice of the right will be missed and the whole body will swing hard left." he answered. "We need ya'll in the conversation to keep us in the middle."

I had never heard that argument before. I told him that we had not been heard in sometime. I told him that everything we have said, screamed, and plead for has fallen on deaf ears.

I then began to give him the list of things that we, the orthodox, find repugnant about the "moderate" church as it is today.

What we can't stomach, is the following:

Same sex marriages....yeah you heard about that one did you? It's our central issue isn't it? Well read on.

1. Communion will soon be open to those who are not baptized Christians.
2. Misuse and denial of the Holy Scriptures as the center of our knowledge of who the Triune God is as well as our source for theology, worship, and the understanding of our relationship to the world, through Christ.
3. The Holy Scriptures are anti-Semitic. (Are you freaking kidding me?)
4. Christ is not THE way, he is ONE way.
5. Jesus loves us as we are and requires no changes in our lives.
6. We are forgiven by God, through Christ, before confession, before repentance, without any acknowledgement of our sinfulness.
7. There is no personal relationship with Jesus, there are only Christian relationships person to person.
8. The Persons of the Trinity have no gender.
9. Eastern and Psuedo-Celtic religions are fine to incorporate into Christian worship and practice.
10. And yes, same-sex marriage.

Then I took a breath. Like the rest of ECUSA he assumed that this "problem" we're having is all about homosexuality. He had not heard the other "difficulties" that the orthodox are having with ECUSAn theology and practice. I've come to believe that the majority of the people in ECUSA have never heard these more devistating points discussed. Even if they have the internet.

"There are truly 2 churches in this one domination." I told him. "The left can't hear us because we speak a different language, there is no common ground, even our Jesuses are different."

Then I asked him how his kids were and we avoided it some more to stay friends...

Grace and Peace in Christ Jesus

David Dubay+