Is the Episcopal Church Totally Apostate?

Conservative priests from both the Anglican Church in North America and the Episcopal Church debate the thesis "if your bishop affirms the lordship of Jesus Christ and you can continue to preach the gospel and administer the Sacraments validly in your cure then you ought to remain in the Episcopal Church."

[stevedanzey]

I have been a priest in the Episcopal Church for almost 20 years, in a conservative diocese and in two progressive. I have met a few lay and clergy who have more in common with unitarian-style theology, but the vast majority love Jesus, claim him as Lord and Savior, and who are faithful, committed Christians. I am grateful to be a part of this branch of the Faith.

[thoughtfulchristianity]

I pray for a reunification of the entirety of the Anglican Communion. Let all errors of doctrines be thrown out and let the Word of God in its Law and Gospel be preached faithfully, let the Sacraments be administered reverently, and the Apostolic Succession be preserved.

[ThePhilosophersPathway]

Thank you for uploading this discussion and debate. I’m a layperson in the Anglican Church of Canada discerning vocational ministry and this gave me a lot to think about. The peace of the Lord be with you.

[caden]

I love how you used an image from St. Peter’s Anglican Cathedral for the thumbnail! I went there during law school in Tallahassee, FL.

[fortisrisuspater]

Great conversation! Both the TEC and ACNA are facing vast problems of theology and those must be addressed for the good of the church. If the ACNA does not deal with the problem of Women Orders and Bishops who deny the real presence they will soon see fracturing among the province. Here is prayerfully hoping that Christ will cause both the TEC and the ACNA to return to orthodoxy.

[TheExiledDefenfer]

I have been recently genuinely very interested in the Anglican church and, as troubling as the thorough complexities may be among the various groups, this conversation really flared up the warming fires of hope for me. It is encouraging to know that there are still strongholds of Orthodoxy in a corrupt system and that those outside of the system are seeking relationship with those in the thick of the battle against liberalism. As impossible as it may now seem, our God is the God of the impossible. Therefore, we can hope and pray that it all will come together as one communion consecrated as the army against Satan.

[mr.awsome]

Before watching this I just want to say sometimes it gets disheartening being conservative in TEC. I was the only youth member at our convention who actually believed in God, let alone cared. It's sad to see all the old dying members who are still faithful look at me like the second coming because they haven't seen a young person interested in church for so long. It's horrible to think what's going to happen to my church, the second oldest continuously operating in Utah, when I'm gone cause everybody else is 60 years or older. The only time I feel genuine hatred is when I see and hear the leeches who don't care paradeing the corpse of my church around taunting the faithful who are far too old or timid to actually do anything.

Sorry for the long post, but there's no one besides our Lord I can vent to like this.

[theupsidedownminddickens]

If the good Shepherds abandon the good members of the flock and leave them to the wolves because of the wolves within the Shepherds and the flock then who is there to protect the good members of the flock? Is it not the priests and the bishops that are to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the flock even to their own destruction as the prophets of old did, never breaking off to start a new country or new order but rather contending with the one that be to the bitter destructive ends. Just a thought. Thank you. May our Lord God save the Episcopal Church.

[SibleySteve]

I’m an orthodox TEC, standing with the Lord Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. I am recently returned from a pilgrimage to Canterbury England, and let me tell you doubters out there that I am 100% a 1 Corinthians 15 Christian through the mercy of God and the resurrection of Jesus Christ we must heed verse 58 - be firm and stedfast always abounding in the work of the Lord. Let us be the reflection of Jesus Glorious Light in this dark and wicked generation. Grace and peace to you. Never give up. You are called to faithfulness not a majority. See Jeremiah 17.

[Lone_Painter]

Where there are 2 or three gathered together in my name Christ will be in their mist. Go where God sends you.

[b.r.holmes]

What if ACNA parishes strategically took over local failing Episcopal churches?

[ConfessionsofAConvert]

I'm a Catholic with absolutely no interest in either side. However, I am intensely interested in hearing these perspectives. Around the 1:29:00 mark, I am very confused how one could say there are dioceses with no bishop, affirm that many (most?) churches have invalid sacraments, and still want to remain within that communion? All of this talk of "politics" in unacceptable when sacraments deal with the souls of the faithful. I really do think you all would find it would be a lot easier to find what you are seeking within the Ordinariate. I know personally I just couldn't live with such a reality of invalid sacraments.

I appreciate this debate, thanks for posting it. I will come back to it much.

[bear]

I pray that the ACNA will forget their apostacy for Love and the true Anglican Communion. I pray they come back to the Episcopal Church.

[MelissaGilmerSalamanca]

I have to side with Redeemed Zoomer in this subject. All reformed churches need to heal their schisms, reform within their churches, and strengthen the institutions. Otherwise, it’s a contribution into the constantly splintering Protestant problem.

[JusheisAwesome]

Based! When can we expect more Reconquista content???

[gregorypizarro]

ACNA might be the new TEC if they don’t put a stop on women ordination

[marilynmelzian]

I am a member of the ACNA. I understand the arguments for church unity, and would agree that there are some divisions in the church that have happened because of issues that are not heretical on either side. My question is, is an apostate church even part of the church? Once you have denied the core doctrines of the church and sound moral practices, do you have any authority at all? the argument seems to be that it is the local bishop that counts, but then why be part of a larger institutional structure at all?

[Taiyama]

The fact that the overwhelming majority of the Anglican communion have determined TEC to be heretical is the most important argument for me. At that point, I'm not sure you can even argue that TEC is the mainline anymore. It's equivalent to back in the medieval era when the Catholic Church would put whole kingdoms under excommunication.

[hunterguerrant]

With the recent reforms to TEC such as oath to current BCP and external bishop oversight- isn’t the TEC basically the same as the ACNA now??

[immaculateboy]

As a devout gay man I would have no church home without the Episcopal Church. I shake my head at all these denominations calling the others apostate or "fallen". Everyone wants their own denomination to be the "true" church and it gives me a headache. We're all one church living out the gospel and trying our best to serve the lord.