The Institutional Church versus the Church

A religious divide is taking place in America.  Nobody understands it better than the Anglicans who have pulled away from The Episcopal Church (TEC).  These Anglicans refuse to remain with a church that has slowly but surely endorsed unbiblical beliefs.   TEC leadership has been questioning the authority of Scripture for decades.  Back in the 1990s, Bishop John Shelby Spong was publicly deriding the virgin birth, the resurrection of Christ, and the reliability of the Bible, and Bishop John Chane in his 2002 Easter sermon declared Jesus’ resurrection "at best conjectural."  Katharine Jefferts Schori, who became the first female bishop in 2006, has questioned the resurrection, and adamantly denies Christ as the only way to God.  

All of these departures from the Bible have been very troubling for many Anglicans, but the last straw was when TEC consecrated Gene Robinson as its first openly homosexual bishop in 2004 date, and later, when the denomination approved liturgy for homosexual weddings.  Since then, hundreds of churches have fled the denomination.  Gene Robinson married his first wife Isabella in 1972.  They had two daughters. He divorced his wife in 1986 and entered a formal relationship with his current spouse, Mark Andrew, in 1988.  

The Episcopal Church wages War Against those who Stand Firm for the Authority of Scripture

TEC has fought their own departing church members with astonishing tyrannical vindictiveness.  They have sued the fleeing churches for their buildings, even though the church members paid for those buildings.  In one case, the congregation of Christ Church Anglican in Savannah, Georgia, lost their building, even though they had held title to the property since 1773.  A judge ruled against them.    

Even when the churches have offered to pay TEC for the buildings, TEC has refused and in some cases have sold them at bargain basement prices to other denominations, including to Muslims.  The Church of the Good Shepherd offered the TEC $150,000 for their own church building.  But TEC stuck its finger in their eye, and sold it to local Muslims for $50,000.  The Muslims used a crane to tear down the cross.  It is now the Islamic Awareness Center.  

Rev. Jefferts Schori has stated that "Bad behavior must be confronted."  She has likened the departure of believing Christians from TEC to murderes.  "It’s not terribly far from the state of mind evidenced in school shootings…." 

Anglicans aren’t the only ones fleeing their denomination.  In 1965, membership in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) numbered 3.70 million.  Today, it numbers 1.85 million.  At least 110 congregations left the PCUSA in 2012, shortly after the denomination ordination of homosexuals in 2011.  

The Church’s One Foundation is Jesus Christ Her Lord

Even though these Christians are being punished for standing firm for the gospel, they have learned that a building is not the body of Christ.  The building is nothing more than bricks and mortar without the people.    The Christians have forsaken trappings for the freedom to be about "the mission."  They have walked away from battling for property, and instead battle for souls.  

The Christians meet in hotels, middle schools, and senior centers.  They have rented spaces wherever they can, even in a former tool factory.  

Other believers have stepped up to help these Christians.  When the believing Anglicans lost the Church of the Good Shepherd, the Roman Catholics provided them with an abandoned church building at a reduced price.  

When the congregation of Christ Church Anglican lost their building, nearby Independent Presbyterian Church (IPC) opened its doors rent free.  IPC pastor Terry Johnson declared:  "Our faith is your faith and our buildings are your buildings."

For more information:

Tidings of Discomfort and Joy

Gene Robinson

First Gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson Talks about Jesus’ ‘Alternative Lifestyle’.

Diversity, not Jesus, Saves says Presiding Bishop

The Anus Monologues