Thursday, August 17, 2006

"Wake Up" Website launched

Check it out:

WAKE UP is a coalition of concerned Episcopalians who seek a Full Inclusion Church.

We came into being during the summer of 2006, following the General Convention of the Episcopal Church. While pleased at the election of Katharine Jefferts Schori as Presiding Bishop, we experienced the passage of Resolution B-033 as a betrayal of the Church's professed acceptance of lesbian and gay Christians as full members of the Body of Christ.

We also view with alarm the attempts of some, both within and outside the Episcopal Church, to move us in a direction of exclusion, intolerance, and dogmatic "purity codes" that have never been part of the Anglican heritage.

Our primary purpose is to TAKE ACTION to STOP THE APPEASEMENT of theological bullies, and protect the Anglican heritage of inclusion and openness that has been passed down to us.
We value the unity of the Anglican Communion, but not at the price of appeasement and injustice.

While we enjoy the hospitality of an inclusive parish in New York City, we are an independent and loosely-structured group that invites other individuals, vestries, parishes, organizations, and groups to sign on in solidarity with our Statement of Purpose.

4 comments:

Fred said...

It's about time ... the Episcopal Church has a lot to wake up about ... good for those willing to step up and take the lead in giving the wake-up-call!

Anonymous said...

Good Morning Everyone,

The concern I have about this group (as well as all of the rest of the conservative and liberal groups) is that it can only further polarize the situation.

It seems this week's news has laid out the logical course. Those who support the direction of the Episcopal Church remain in the Episcopal Church. Those who cannot can go with the CANA group or for Rome or Orthodoxy as I did.

I think it is time to stop all the arguing and to disband all the GC2003/GC2006 related clubs and allow TEC, CANA, and everyone to once again focus on our mission to spread the good news, feed the hungry, and minister in the name of Christ.

Suzer said...

I'm torn by this whole thing. While I understand the need to come together and speak with one voice for full inclusion, I also fear that the creation of these groups (whose goals I fully support, by the way) just creates further division. Do we now have to sign our names to different "camps" so to speak, saying "I belong to this camp!" (It reminds me of my years as a child at Camp Bement in Mass. We would shout "HELLO" over the pond, and hear our echo shouting back 'helloooo' -- and pretend it was another camp shouting back to us. And the echo faded into the distance. Rather apt analogy, I guess.)

Perhaps the division is already too great -- the rift too large to overcome. I, too, was wounded by B033, and there are times I feel the time for unity has passed. It just makes me sad, I guess, that there is a need for aligning ourselves with one group or another, but perhaps it is inevitable.

I love the Episcopal Church. I grew up in it and hate to see such quarreling. But, Christians have been doing this for 2000 years -- disagreeing and dividing -- and I'm sure it will continue. And perhaps it's for the best, I just don't know.

Renee in Ohio said...

Thanks for the heads-up. I'll be sure to add that to my page here.

I haven't been able to come here and read or comment much lately--just too much going on with kids home for the summer and both hubby and I working hard trying to find ways to generate income in the slow season. But I wanted to share the link to a new site I put together. The Rt. Reverend Herbert Thompson, the recently retired bishop of the Diocese of Southern Ohio, died suddenly while in Italy this past week. The diocese put up a tribute blog for him. During General Convention, they also had a blog up for that, but neither blog has links in the sidebar. You *gotta* link things--that's what the internet is for! Anyway, here's what I put together yesterday.