ABC's Laura Marquez displayed last night how the media just don't get religion.
Introducing her story on a rift in the Episcopal Church as conservative parishes in Northern Virginia voted to leave the American branch of the Anglican Communion for greener theological pastures, Marquez blamed conservatives for troubling the church's still waters.
"Members of Virginia's Truro Church may have been singing the words "The Church's One Foundation," but the action they took today rocked that foundation to its core."
In other words, conservative, orthodox Episcopalians are the bad guys, prompting a "secession" as Marquez called it, from the Episcopal Church. But that just shows Marquez's confusion as to the church's true foundation.
The opening stanza of the scripturally-inspired hymn Marquez was referring to talks of Christ being the foundation of the church and the third stanza speaks of Christ guarding His Church from "those who hate her" and "false sons in her pale" and how over "both foe or traitor, She ever shall prevail."
In other words, parishioners were singing/confessing their trust in Christ to guard and protect the church from false doctrine and preserve her in the Truth. Marquez stayed out of the theological controversies and preferred to present the struggle as a political one, even as she painted conservatives parishioners in a negative light.
"Members leave behind a long history dating back to colonial days and the Founding Fathers" including George Washington, a "leader in the original parish" of Truro Church, before showing Episcopal Divinity School professor Rev. Ian T. Douglas slamming the parish as "betraying their ancestors and those who have followed them."
Marquez didn't find a conservative Episcopal theologian to dispute Douglas or to explain why conservative Episcopals are disheartened and suspicious of the new liberal Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts Schori.
For a look at that, here's an excellent blog post on the matter that encapsulates the fears of orthodox conservative Episcopalians about the direction of their denomination under the decidedly liberal Schori.
Someone who is being installed asPresiding Bishop has the wonderful opportunity and responsibility of delivering sermonsthat will be heard and read by people all over the world. Given this opportunity, imagine what the Apostles Peter and Paul would have said.
Their preaching and teaching in the New Testament makes it clear that their sermons, delivered on such an occasion, would have confessed Jesus Christ as Lord; would have spoken of His death on the cross and His resurrection; would have explained that eternal life comes through Him; and would have invited the hearers to repent of sin and put their faith in Jesus Christ. But the religion of the Apostles is a religion very different from the one on display in Bishop Schori's investiture and installation sermons.
