Who issued this press release? I didn’t find it on the diocesan web site, and it read like one of those pieces put out by one of the Acronyms. Where did you get it, Kendall?

Unfortunately, the only signals that the leadership of ECUSA is sending to its clergy and laity and to the rest of the Anglican Communion are those of secular revolutionary fervor and a clear desire to consolidate its secular gains.  Regardless of the consequences to the Anglican Communion.  Regardless of the fact that they will be severely hurting Anglicans who only wish to pursue “the Faith once given” in peace in their own dioceses and parishes and free from secularist intimidation by the revisionists leading ECUSA.

So what are those faithful to “the Faith once given” to do?  Bow their knees to heretics?  I think not.  And this letter speaks to the current situation caused by the revisionists leading ECUSA.

Hi Bob in #1, hope you are well this fall. I received the press release via direct communication from the diocese.

A true and Godly shepherd of the sheep -

Go, Bp. Keith!

Thanks for the information, Kendall. I hope all goes well with you also.

For those of us from Scotch-Irish persuasion that “if you quit, you let the [insert profane plural noun here] win,” I grow increasingly disheartened when good Anglo-Catholic folks like Bishop Ackerman and the folks in various conservative dioceses seem to be gearing up to “sever ties to the General Convention” (or words to that effect). If even my fellow Anglo-Catholics are willing to give into the devil’s handiwork of schism, there doesn’t seem to be much hope for those of us who choose to remain and fight for what we think is right.

Archer [#6]: Breaking from those who disdain the faith once delivered is one way to uphold that faith—-and help assure that apostasy does not prevail.

Archer,
As one who is now under an Ugandan bishop, I truly empathize with you.  That is my gut reaction as well.  While your position and that of the ACI appear to me to be very strongly supported by Scripture.  I can only say that if wise and faithful   Bishops like +Ackerman, +Schofield and +Iker, with their committment to catholicity, can take such drastic steps as this, I must yield to their greater depth of understanding.  Godly bishops such as these can be trusted to act wisely and lead their people as the Lord directs.

As a priest of the Diocese of Quincy, I would like to offer a few thoughts:
-  the “stay and fight” mentality is one that can only sustain some folks for so long.  The dangers faced by some with this mentality are twofold:  1. Staying and fighting until one almost imperceptibly loses the will and energy to fight and just as imperceptibly settles into a resigned complacency.  2.  Loving the “fight” so much that one’s Christianity largely becomes equated with fighting.  This can lead to a belligerent faith and a form of prelest : that spiritual delusion of self-grandeur that overstates one’s spiritual importance and heroism.

Please, please, please understand that I am not applying this to ALL who feel led to “stay and fight.”  Everyone is on their own journey in this regard.  I simply share what has come out of my own prayer and reflection on these matters.

Pax,
RD+

RD+,
I was in the Diocese of Lexington and the reasserters in our parish (over 75% of the membership) left enmass when the bishop fired the vestry and took over the parish (aided by a small cadre of fifth columnists).  Personally, I think we should have stayed and fought tooth and nail against surrendering God’s house, the legacy of generations of faithful Christians, into the hands of an apostate bishop.  However, when the others left, had I and my household remained, my children would have been subject to false teaching and I would have grown embittered and unable to partake of communion.  There were really no viable options to my leaving at that point.  I’m so glad there are some of you in faithful diocese who have been able to hang on and I pray that, should you have to depart as a diocese, you are not forced to leave your property behind.  It really hurts.  May God bless and keep you

From Forgottonia,
you forgot a “third component” - the lure into the acceptance of the false teachings as valid. 

When all around are teaching false doctrine, after a time, it begins to sound logical and ‘sound’.  We know from history that ‘a lie repeated often enough and loudly enough will eventually be perceived as the truth’.

Without the proper feeding of the Spirit with solid food (true teaching), the will to resist grows weaker.

So that is my ‘third danger’ of staying as a ‘Lone Ranger’ Christian in a non-Christian environment.

It is heartening to know that our bishops and standing committees (Dioceses of Fort Worth and Quincy) are working in concert as we endeavor to keep true to the Holy Scripture.

As #4 said, “Go Bishop Ackerman and Bishop Iker!”