Schism

As of yesterday there is an alternative Christian church to the apostate Episcopal Church, comprised of various Anglican breakaway churches, four former ECUSA dioceses and various other organizations within and without ECUSA, all of which wanting nothing to do with the Gnostic religion-product offered by ECUSA these days. This is good news for disaffected Anglicans everwhere but there is a sad and fatal flaw to the new organization that calls itself the Anglican Christians of North America (ACNA): it does not come down decisively against women's ordination and by not doing so, it cannot succeed.

Opposition to women's ordination was the raison d'être for many of the schismatic episcopal churches formed in the past thirty years, many of which are now part of the ACNA. There are other organizations, however, also belonging to the ACNA, such as the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, that do permit it. Women's ordination was the camel's nose under tent in 1976 that led to, over the years, numerous other false doctrines infiltrating ECUSA and transforming it into an apostate church, leading to its fracture. The ACNA, by not dealing from the start with this most contentious and scripture-violating issue, will surely see fissures forming in their brand-new organization, it is only a matter of time.

I may be be wrong (perhaps William Tighe could help here) but I seem to recall many years ago the Episcopal Church was in some sort of communion with branches of the Eastern Church. If, however, that was the case it is no more and women's ordination was the cause of the breach. Were the ACNA to declare firmly, as did Pope John Paul II in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis in 1994, that the "Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women," perhaps some branches of the Eastern Churches will make overtures to the ACNA. Since relations with the Orthodox and the Holy Catholic Churches have been growing warmer lately, we might then have cause for hope that progress, however glacial, is being made toward the goal that all Christians pray for, the making of Christ's Church whole again.