Re: Bp. Dixon's visit to St. Luke

[barbara wolf <lupa@biddeford.com>]

.
>At 11:59 AM 1/15/96 -0500, David Lewis wrote:
>
 The clergy and lay leadership of these parishioners are
>teaching something at variance with the Creeds:  to wit, a failure to truly
>believe (that is, trust) in the Holy Spirit and his/her/its guidance of the
>Church and a failure to believe (that is, trust) in the branch of the one,
>holy, catholic and apostolic church to which they claim to belong.
>
>And, once again, I must point out that the ordained ministry of _only_ men
>is no more "provable" by Holy Scripture than is an ordained ministry made up
>of both men and women.  It is a matter of ecclesial polity, discipline and
>order, not a matter of doctrine "provable" by Scripture.


I have been forced, because of "configuration" problems with the modem, to
wade through more than 900 postings.  I've caught up with just about all of
them and have been busy reacting to the "Jane Dixon visit" brouhaha, amongst
other things.  I am struck by the fact that the hard-core *faithful* have so
weak a theology of the Incarnation.  The cultural circumstances of the
Incarnation are surely not to be regarded as God's BLUEPRINT for salvation.
The Incarnation is an event, not a plan.  Hence, the historical elements
that God used are only historical.  The event is eternal.

Furthermore, surely we know that the Spirit continues to reveal the will of
God, even as we speak and write.  That life in the Church changes as it
does, with changes in the culture in which the Spirit lives and works, ought
not to surprise anyone. (How many women now wear hats to Church?)  Any brief
glance at Church history ought both to challenge and to reassure those who
feel that they are being unduly put upon in these days.

So enough already with weeping and gnashing of teeth about the Sad State of
the Episcopal Church.  And enough already with fear--which is, IMHO, an
insult to God, who can undoubtedly take care of Himself (for lack of a
better word) and of those who trust in the loving power of the Spirit.

Barbara Wolf