Until the Day I Die

As a lifelong Episcopalian, I am disturbed about the direction that the church has taken over the past half century.

Friends who have typecast me as irredeemably conservative might be surprised to learn that the ordination of women, gay priests and bishops or the blessing of same-sex unions do not trouble me. Here are two concerns that are on the list:

Pursuing Social Justice over Spreading the Word. Throughout history Christians' urgency to preach the Gospel rested on a simple truth: the time spent in one lifetime is infinitesimal compared to the hereafter, and Christians need to convert souls while they are mortal lest they be lost to eternity. Through its actions the 20th- and 21st-century Episcopal church has shown that social justice in the here and now takes primacy over getting souls into heaven. The de-emphasis of salvation leads me to guess that church leaders in their hearts believe heaven and hell are only fairy tales that they teach in Sunday School.

I also wish they would quit using the euphemism. "Social justice" means taking stuff away from those who have too much and giving it to those whom church leaders have decided have too little. Why don't they just say what they really believe? From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.

Sleeping With the Statists: A perusal of the July General Convention resolutions, which includes endorsing statehood for the District of Columbia and expansion of Medicaid to states that want to decline (legally, according to the Supreme Court) Medicaid expansion, shows that the Episcopal Church has not only become deeply entwined in secular politics but consistently takes positions nearly indistinguishable from the far left wing of the Democratic Party.

I heartily endorse charity. It is a noble endeavor to feed the hungry, heal the sick, donate to the poor, and aid strangers in need. But charity is a voluntary activity. I don't see anything "Christian" about advocating laws to effect wealth redistribution. The church empowers Caesar, who is no friend of religion, at its peril.

Times columnist Ross Douthat says the changes in the Episcopal Church may have accelerated its decline:

Today the Episcopal Church looks roughly how Roman Catholicism would look if Pope Benedict XVI suddenly adopted every reform ever urged on the Vatican by liberal pundits and theologians. It still has priests and bishops, altars and stained-glass windows. But it is flexible to the point of indifference on dogma, friendly to sexual liberation in almost every form, willing to blend Christianity with other faiths, and eager to downplay theology entirely in favor of secular political causes.

Yet instead of attracting a younger, more open-minded demographic with these changes, the Episcopal Church’s dying has proceeded apace. Last week, while the church’s House of Bishops was approving a rite to bless same-sex unions, Episcopalian church attendance figures for 2000-10 circulated in the religion blogosphere. They showed something between a decline and a collapse: In the last decade, average Sunday attendance dropped 23 percent, and not a single Episcopal diocese in the country saw churchgoing increase.

Remembering the beauty of the Episcopal Church that used to be, I will continue to be a member until the day I die. Sadly, no one will be taking my place.