THURSDAY, MAY 08, 2008
Why John Lipscomb Became a Catholic
I believe God is now calling us to continue our ministry to serve in the
healing of the visible Body of Christ in the world. I am convinced our
Lordıs deepest desire is for the unity of the Church.
I attended a gathering of Catholics in the DFW area a few weeks ago to
hear former Episcopalian bishop John Lipscomb share the story of his
conversion to the Catholic Church in December 2007. Lipscomb is now
waiting to become one of the almost 100 former Episcopalian clergy who
have been received into the Catholic Church under the Pastoral Provision
since 1980. He had already explained his story in an open letter to his
friends in Christ, here. Hearing his story was like a breath of fresh
air. So, here are some of his major points, from my notes. Please don't
shoot the messenger.
1. The Episcopalian experience was primarily one of inward-looking
mediation and reconcilliation attempts from day one, and all along
Lipscomb was less and less able to be at peace about what he was doing.
First, ECUSA continually took positions which refuted sound moral
theology. Secondly, the 'gifts' of catholicity that Lipscomb had hoped
to infuse into ECUSA were simply not wanted. And, he was just so tired
of the jargon which carefully differentiated 'Anglicanism' from ECUSA,
and shopped for bishops; to have such a misguided sense of boundaries in
the Church is not 'catholic' at all.
2. The unity which John 17 calls for is a unity for the purpose of a
united mission. This had become impossible in ECUSA. And, ECUSA's brand
of ecumenism apart from truth could never produce any sense of unity at
all; added to that is the fact that the English Reformation was about
rebellion from the outset, the quest for unity becomes futile. In other
words, the Anglican crisis is 500 years old.
3. For those who bristle about the idea of submitting to Catholic
authority in the See of Peter, the heart of the issue is that for those
who walk in the Spirit, freedom and law are not contradictions; rather
than being a burden, the service of Christ in the paces of His authority
is not a burden, but perfect freedom.
(Lipscomb suggested that this idea would be most difficult for those who
had already submitted to ECUSA's dogma of postmodern relativisim, and
had agreed to be a community that would merely accomodate the public,
or, that would equate Church order with friendly small talk) The straw
that ultimately broke the camel's back, he said, was the American
Primate explaining that Jesus is actually not the Way, the Truth, and
the Life. Here, Lipscomb recommended C. FitzSimon Allison's The Cruelty
of Heresy.
4. Regarding the hope for prophetic action through local options in the
world, Lipscomb pointed out that Biblically, prophecy calls God's people
to repent and to return to the place they came from. Furthermore, he
urged that it is impossible to think that ecclesial communities that are
totally opposed in confession and practices from ecclesial communities
in other parts of the world (as is the case for the Anglican Communion)
will not inevitably contravene each other's mission; they will.
Here, Lipscomb recounted a personal story of meeting with young Rwandans
who were former Anglicans, but who had renounced Christianity entirely
and converted to Islam since ECUSA's forays from 2003 on.
5. To other clergy, Lipscomb said that when told that he had 'sold out'
on the Episcopalian vision, his rejoinder is that he is proud to have
sold out to the truth, and that he is eager to bring to the fullness of
the Church the fullness of who he is, without compromise.
For the rest, go to:
http://vocatum.blogspot.com/2008/05/why-john-lipscomb-became-catholic.htm
l
--
Charles Hohenstein (to reply, remove Gene Robinson)
"The sad huddle of affluent bedwetters, thumbsuckers,
treehuggers, social climbers, homophiles, quavery ladies,
and chronic petition signers that makes up the current
Episcopal Church . . ." -Thomas Lipscomb
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