Weak, disappointing, +Don Johnson of West Tennessee must be rubbing off on him.

+Bauerschmidt says this:

The House of Bishops has now given its response, one that went much further than I thought possible for the House to provide the clarifications requested by the Primates’ Meeting. The clarifications concern the requested assurances on the blessing of same-sex unions and on the consecration to the episcopate of persons living in a partnered same-sex union sought by the 2004 Windsor Report. The issue before the Episcopal Church is to provide the assurances requested by the Report that will allow the common life of the Anglican Communion to continue. I believe that the principal question is no longer just whether the Episcopal Church desires to continue to walk with the Communion, but whether the Communion itself has the will to continue together. There is much here at stake that goes beyond the Episcopal Church.

and the Questioning Christian said this:

There is indeed a middle ground, and the House of Bishops seems to be taking it: “As a body, we won’t authorize or encourage SSB. But neither are we as a body prepared to prohibit them. As a body, we’re remaining neutral, taking no position. Priests who feel called to perform SSB, and whose bishops don’t prohibit it, are free to do so. And we’ll all learn from what follows.”

Both are saying the same thing.  And it is not what the Primates wanted to hear.  But the Questioning Christian is at least, more honest than the Bishop.

Don Johnson will probably respond to his Diocese around Thanksgiving.

At first read, I find this a very disappointing response from our bishop.  He seems to be saying, it’s not important what my opinion is and I demur to the opinion of the Communion as a whole.  But does he have an opinion and does he have the courage of his convictions to speak out?  Apparently one or the other is lacking.  I met +Bauerschmidt early in his term when he visited our church and liked him and was impressed by him then.  This does not sound like the man I met earlier this year.  When Jesus asks, “Who do you say that I am?”, He wants us to speak our heart, not defer to a committee ruling.  That committee then decided, “Crucify him, crucify him!”

Taking no position (or deferring) is still a position…

Yep.  This sounds like the new Bishop of Tennessee.  He is a pretty good speaker and writer.  He can take the most silly position and make it almost sound logical.  He is still attempting to get my priest to renounce his orders, but has not yet had any luck.  Many of the clergy and laypeople who voted for him are the same people leaving the diocese and TEC in the greatest numbers.  He could see the light and change at some point.  It would do him well.  But for now, he is a bold TEC institutionalist. Today’s statement by him is clear evidence of that.  Good luck Diocese of Tennessee.

P.S.  Life outside TEC is wonderful.  We are growing and doing very well as St. Patrick’s (CANA), in Smyrna, formerly All Saints’.  Any parish considering leaving TEC should form a plan and just do it.  It has been a great blessing for us to throw off the burden of being in the horrible, corrupt, anti-Christian institution which TEC has become.

As one dismembered Tennessean in the middle of this mess,
I commend and appreciate Bishop John’s statement, simply
because I know the burdens he is carrying right now.

Thank you, Robert #8, for your understanding words. I know from friends in the Diocese how long it took for you all to agree on a bishop. He undoubtedly is in a difficult position among his own flock and has to steer a skillful middle course.

One sentence that jumped out at me was this one: ” I believe that the principal question is no longer just whether the Episcopal Church desires to continue to walk with the Communion, but whether the Communion itself has the will to continue together. There is much here at stake that goes beyond the Episcopal Church.” I think he is probably correct in this respect, because the chief issue, to my mind, is whether the staunch opponents of TEC in the GS are willing to stay in the AC.

#3, if then, the diocese is a mess and in a total funk as you apparently are aware.

Where are all these effeminate and effete men bred?  One wonders.

St. Peter, they’re not.

Let me back my old friend, Bob Dedmon. During the last month I have become a priest of the Diocese of Tennessee who is working in Cambridge, England, but for many years I have been up close to what is going on in Tennessee. What needs to be understood when reading his statement is the difficult political realities with which Bishop Bauerschmidt is wrestling. He deserves our support and prayers, not cheap shots.

Well, Canon Dedmon and Fr. Kew, I respect and value your opinion and judgment greatly and will take your statements at face value.  Certainly our bishop deserves and needs (as anyone in his position would) our prayers and support in being the Lord’s pastor to this diocese.  For the forseeable future I would be in our parish anyway, as I have 2 daughters to shepherd through in the faith to the time when they will have to make their own choices in faithful life to God, and many dear friends who have Jesus as their Lord and believe and live the Gospel to bear each other up.  Let us each examine ourselves to make our calling and election more sure!

Gollee, Geewillikers, I’d love to know if anybody in Tennessee knows of a thick-necked, rough handed rector not afraid to get a little dirt under his fingernails - the kind of bloke you wouldn’t mind spending a day in a duck blind with.  I’d drive some distance to go to a church led by a man like that. 

My wife is more masculine than the vast majority of them.

God did make men and women.  Time to be a man.  Lop off the ears of a few Roman Centurions.  Jesus will heal them.  Show some moxy and spunk instead of fainting while taking tea.

Or sit back and watch your church wither and die.

And as a matter of fact I do pray for both Bishops in Tennessee.  I pray they’ll have a testosterone surge.  I pray that Jesus will release them from their fear of being a man.

And I think Jesus is on record regarding ‘political realities.’
Take up your cross.

I think all this testoterone and being a man talk belongs in a high school locker room. Get real!

Let’s remind ourselves what Jesus would have looked like as a thirty year old Jewish carpenter.  He did not look like the blue-eyed, angelic, Protestantized Jesus of so many cheap paintings.  His eyes would have been dark, not light blue.  He may very well have had a preponderance of body hair.  The hair on his head would be oily and tied back most likely. 

Want to know what he looked like?  Drive by a construction site during hot weather.  Pick out a dark complexioned man in his late 20s to early 30s (although Jesus probably would have looked a lot older).  Jesus would have been extremely tan (the skin that showed) with skin showing the signs of premature aging by the sun.  His arms, from about the elbows down, would have had numerous scars along with fresh small cuts, bumps, and bruises.  Most likely one or more fingernails would have been completely black and in the process of falling out or in some stage of re-growth.  Remember that all this work would have been done completely with hand tools.  There were no labor saving electric power tools, obviously.  Given the hygienic measures available to them in that time, he would not have emitted a pleasant odor during the workday.  By today’s standards, he would have stunk to high heaven.  You would not want to be seated next to him.  He was real.  He got along with the rest of the people around him who did the same kind of work. 

Namby-pamby Jesus?  I don’t think so.

Somebody’s Wild at Heart!

Things HAVE actually gotten complex, and I suppose this is what the bishop is trying to say. “Things are complex and we’re not up to leading” is what he’s saying. Tennessee, unfortunately, is not going to lead.  Tennessee is waiting to see what happens next. That’s what happens when you have the University of the South in your diocese.  You temporize… waiting to see what the REAL LEADERS in the Anglican community come up with.This is a weak.wonder why the Bishop of Tennessee bothered with this simpering blather.