The Episcopal Church in Crisis: How Sex, the Bible, and Authority Are Dividing the Faithful

by Frank G. Kirkpatrick

Overview

The current debate in the Episcopal Church in the United States (ECUSA) over its relationship with the worldwide Anglican Communion has been building for some time. Some Episcopalians (including priests, bishops, and dioceses) have broken or are considering breaking their historic affiliation with the current authoritative bodies of ECUSA because they believe they have betrayed the historic teachings and morality of the Anglican tradition. The author places this emerging crisis in context: historical, moral, theological, cultural, and ecclesiological. He explores how the rift between Episcopalians in the United States originated, how it is being played out now in the rift between the official representatives of ECUSA and the Anglican Communion, what the arguments are for and against all sides, and what are the prospects for either reconciliation at some level between the opposing parties or deepening schism in the future. Kirkpatrick explores the variety of contentious issues, rather than focusing just on the one that gets the most media attention: homosexuality.

The crisis in the Church goes much deeper than that, however, and involves issues of church, tradition, and biblical authority. The author provides necessary background but focuses primarily on the events that have occurred since 2003 when ECUSA approved the election and consecration of an openly gay bishop. While the situation continues to evolve and change, the book provides readers with an up-to-date account of the history of the crisis, an analysis of the conflicting arguments, and a contextual guide for understanding what might come next in this unfolding story.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313346620
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	06/30/2008
Series:	Religion, Politics, and Public Life Under the auspices of the Leonard E. Greenb
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Frank G. Kirkpatrick is Ellsworth Morton Tracy Lecturer and Professor of Religion, Trinity College. He has published five books Community: A Trinity of Models, Together Bound: God, History, and the Religious Community, The Ethics of Community, A Moral Ontology for a Theistic Ethic: Gathering the Nations in Love and Justice, and John Macmurray: Community Beyond Political Philosophy. He has also published a general textbook in the field of ethics, Living Issues in Ethics with Richard Nolan, and numerous articles in scholarly jourbanals, as well as op-ed pieces and topical analyses of current religious events.

Table of Contents

W.B. Yeats, The Second Coming
Introduction
Section One: The Beginnings of the Crisis
Chapter One: The Resolution that Shaped the Debate and the Election that Shook the Communion Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world
Section Two: The Way We Were: Historical Background
Chapter Two: From Rome to Post-Establishment America By Way of Canterbury Things fall apart
Chapter Three: The Bishops Assembled: The Lambeth Conferences from 1867 to the Present Surely some revelation is at hand
Chapter Four: The Uncompleted Struggle for Womens Ordination: From Defective Men to the Conscience Clause The blood-dimmed tide is loosed
Section Three: From Robinsons Election to the Present
Chapter Five: From the Chapman Memo to the Windsor Report: The Tension Between Unity, Uniformity, and Episcopal Authority The centre cannot hold
Chapter Six: From Dromantine to San Joaquin The worst are full of passionate intensity
Section Four: Perspectives from the Discontented
Chapter Seven: The Conservative Plea for Moral Certainty and Ecclesiastical Discipline Spiritus Mundi Troubles My Sight
Chapter Eight: The Communion in Africa: From Imperially Colonized to Moral Colonizers Somewhere in the sands of the desert
Section Five: Biblical Perspecctives on Slavery and Homosexuality
Chapter Nine: Reconciling Natural Law, Biblical Truth and the Moral Abomination of Slavery Twenty centuries of stony sleep
Chapter Ten: The Bible, Sex, and the Contest of Interpretations
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun
Section Six: Conclusion
Conclusion: The Shape of the Future Turbaning and Turbaning in the Widening Gyre
Time-line
Bibliography:

What People are Saying About This

Rev. Dr. Alan C. Tull

"Clearly written, The Episcopal Church in Crisis also displays great clarity of thought. This enables an understanding of the complex and often intertwined events, acts, reports which have fueled the controversies. This same clarity pervades the analysis of the issues involved. Although he is a liberal, Kirkpatrick's book is fair and displays intellectual integrity. His conclusions about the future of Anglicanism and the Episcopal Church deserve wide consideration."

—

Rev. Dr. Alan C. Tull, Canon Theologian, Episcopal Diocese of Utah

Rev. James W. Jones

"This is a must read, not only for anyone wanting to understand the current turmoil in the Anglican Communion, but also for anyone who cares about the future of American Christianity. The issues raised and the groups described here extend far beyond the American Episcopal Church and should concern anyone who cares about the direction of Christianity in the United States. While being clear about his own positions, Professor Kirkpatrick is to be commended for presenting all sides clearly and fairly. And he concludes with a historically accurate and theologically based presentation of the Anglican vision of Christianity. All this makes this volume an important contribution to the ongoing discussion."

Randall Balmer

"With a discerning mind and a gentle touch, Frank Kirkpatrick demonstrates that the conservative arguments against the acceptance of gays and lesbians draw on the ancient Christian heresies of Donatism, Manicheanism, and Gnosticism. With Kirkpatrick, I long for the day when the real battles in our beloved church will be waged over how well we fulfill the mandate of Jesus to care for the least of these. This is an important and useful book."

Rev. James W. Jones

"This is a must read, not only for anyone wanting to understand the current turmoil in the Anglican Communion, but also for anyone who cares about the future of American Christianity. The issues raised and the groups described here extend far beyond the American Episcopal Church and should concern anyone who cares about the direction of Christianity in the United States. While being clear about his own positions, Professor Kirkpatrick is to be commended for presenting all sides clearly and fairly. And he concludes with a historically accurate and theologically based presentation of the Anglican vision of Christianity. All this makes this volume an important contribution to the ongoing discussion."

—

Rev. James W. Jones, Psy.D., Ph.D., Th.D., Episcopal Priest, Professor of Religion and Adjunct Professor of Clinical Psychology, Rutgers University

Randall Balmer

"With a discerning mind and a gentle touch, Frank Kirkpatrick demonstrates that the conservative arguments against the acceptance of gays and lesbians draw on the ancient Christian heresies of Donatism, Manicheanism, and Gnosticism. With Kirkpatrick, I long for the day when the real battles in our beloved church will be waged over how well we fulfill the mandate of Jesus to care for the least of these. This is an important and useful book."

—

Randall Balmer, Episcopal priest and Professor of American Religious History, Barnard College, Columbia University

Rev. Dr. Alan C. Tull

"Clearly written, The Episcopal Church in Crisis also displays great clarity of thought. This enables an understanding of the complex and often intertwined events, acts, reports which have fueled the controversies. This same clarity pervades the analysis of the issues involved. Although he is a liberal, Kirkpatrick's book is fair and displays intellectual integrity. His conclusions about the future of Anglicanism and the Episcopal Church deserve wide consideration."

Editorial Reviews

Kirkpatrick (Trinity College, CT) neatly describes the crisis in which the worldwide Anglican Communion is currently embroiled….This excellent book provides a heavily researched and dense overview of what promises to be an ongoing debate….Recommended.” —Choice

“Kirkpatrick….comprehensively addresses church history and beliefs as a background for the complex issues affecting unity or division within today's Episcopal Church….He covers pertinent details of issues raised—e.g., biblical authority, church history, ecclesiastical authority, and the place for human reasoning—in a multiplicity of meetings and conferences….Recommended for academic libraries.” —Library Jourbanal

“It's one thing to know what's been happening, but quite another to think through the clashing agendas and what they imply for the future of Anglicanism….[A]nyone seriously concerned with the current crisis will nevertheless need to take account of this book and its analysis of The Episcopal Church's situation.” —The Living Church

“I don't think you can find in one place a better synthesis of the historical, moral, theological, cultural, and ecclesiological dimensions of the issues and interrelated matters. Kirkpatrick's careful organization of an enormous volume of material and events puts before the reader decades of cultural and political trends. He does that in a very readable way, using engaging illustrations and connecting some of the true ironies of recent and longago history that got us where we are.” —The Episcopal New Yorker

From the Publisher

Kirkpatrick (religion, Trinity Coll.; Together Bound: God, History, and the Religious Community) comprehensively addresses church history and beliefs as a background for the complex issues affecting unity or division within today's Episcopal Church, which is experiencing seriously declining membership. He covers pertinent details of issues raised-e.g., biblical authority, church history, ecclesiastical authority, and the place for human reasoning-in a multiplicity of meetings and conferences. Especially contentious are issues related to women's ordination and homosexuality. Kirkpatrick writes, "All the rules, principles, dogmas, creeds, doctrines, rulings, resolutions, and pronouncements that issue from a religious tradition mean nothing if they continually frustrate or deny the reality of human experience." Holding a different position, American conservatives have proposed a separate conservative Episcopal Church, and in the interim some have moved toward alignment with African expressions of the Episcopal Church. Kirkpatrick also presents the efforts of those pressing for a unified and stable church, including former U.S. Presiding Bishop Griswold. A crisis condition continues. Recommended for academic libraries.
—George Westerlund

Library Journal