Deep divisions in a revisionist diocese: Pennsylvania

From the very beginning of his election as bishop of Pennsylvania, Charles Bennison has long been known for his innovative way of looking at the Christian faith.

From Touchstone:

"Charles Bennison, the new bishop of Pennsylvania, told one of his Evangelical parishes a few months ago that he believed the Episcopal Church should celebrate homosexual marriages, and he was asked how he could say that when the Bible clearly forbade it.

Bennison—who before his election a year ago taught pastoral theology at the Episcopal Divinity School, perhaps the Episcopal Church’s most exotic institution, in which covens of witches flourish and professors write books suggesting sado-masochistic sexual acts as a way of arousing the god within—responded by saying, “Because we wrote the Bible and we can rewrite it. We have rewritten the Bible many times.”

“The text of the Bible is a conveyance of the word of God but is not itself the word of God,” he continued. Therefore we read the Scriptures “for evidence of how our forebears in the faith have struggled with some of the same issues,” but our context is so different that we cannot simply accept their answers." here

This is also the bishop and diocese which had two rectors who were practicing druids, but no discipline was ever commenced against either of them. The bishop even made public comments in support of them. here Other conflicts such as the one between the bishop and the Church of the Good Shepherd have caused a deep division between the Bishop and the rest of the diocese. Here

Troubles continue. The Standing Committee has lost confidence in Bp. Bennison's ablility to lead the diocese and has called for his resignation. Bp. Bennison's autocratic leadership style and budget deficits in the millions of dollars have led to complete meltdown between him and his standing committee. Such is the fruit of revisionist theology and practice. Read about it in the links below.

Virtueonline

Standing Committee of the Diocese of Pennsylvania website