The present liberal narrative continues to collapse upon itself. In a supreme irony, African bishops of the Methodist Church refuse to take their cues from their Western betters and sit at the back of the ecclesiastical bus.
The issue is not race (at least on the face of it) but same-sex marriage and the ordination of LGBTQ ministers. What’s upsetting to the Western bishops is that the Africans aren’t going along with the program. Hence a very subtle racism is being directed against them and they’re pushing back. https://pjmedia.com/faith/conservative-african-methodist-denounces-the-racism-of-progressive-american-bishops/
If there was actual racism being directed against Africans I’m sure that the Westerners would direct outrage at those who are uttering the racist comments. But that’s not what’s going on here. Instead, the Africans are telling the liberals (in nuanced and loving terms) to take a hike.
You see, there’s racism and then there’s “racism”. And the Africans –who are upholding tradition–need to be put back in their place. Not because the Westerners are racist mind you, but because we in the West have found a shiny, new toy to play with. And so “people of color” have to be knocked down a few pegs. Because reasons.
It’s all rather funny if you ask me.
We Orthodox are currently embroiled in a potential schism. The issue is not one of administration but one which mirrors the same conflict that is engulfing the West, the Methodist Church in this particular. Indeed, the rivalry is not between Constantinople and Moscow but between accommodation to the Zeitgeist and resistance to it. It is precisely this and nothing else which is bubbling beneath the surface. Make no mistake about this.
A word to the wise: everything else is just window-dressing.
Indeed, many of the Nigerians who became Orthodox in Greece and now attend St Vladimir were Methodist. The Salvation Army, Pentecostals, and mormons derive from Methodism, which makes the methodist ripe for Orthodoxy. Methodists churches have very much of an Orthodox look and feel, see https://christchurchnyc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Sanctuary-300×149.jpg
I was watching something on TV recently and it was blaming industry for global warming and for concocting the so-called conspiracy that global warming isn’t man-made – thus protecting industry’s interests. What it didn’t say however is that if industry, particulalry oil in this instance, was the real master of the universe, like it’s purported to be, then news about man-made global warming would have barely seen the light of day, let alone been repeated so often and everytwhere that our eyes and ears began to bleed.
This, combined with the fact that supposed man-made global warming is far from a disinterested pursuit of the Left, leads to the question: if industry isn’t running the show, then who is? And if the battle has moved from appearing to be one for material wealth to one where ethics of a sort are more important – i.e. women’s rights, amimals rights, gays rights, race rights, environment etc. – then what is the battle really about? The spiritual?
I think so, and I also believe the ‘spirituality’ of the Left is evil, appearing as an angel of light
That would not be a photo of a typical Methodist church though; certainly not in the US. It’s interesting; where was it taken?
It was a bit encouraging reading about this in the NYTimes yesterday; on the other hand, the Presbyterian ‘mainline’ lost this battle finally about 6 years ago. But the Presbys never had that wide a presence in Africa. They were very big in Korea, but the Korea Presbys stayed at arms length from the US ones.
Methodism is a direct offshoot from the Anglican church, via John Wesley, and has retained the office of bishop; unusual in Non-Episcopalian Protestantism. African-American Methodist offshoots, such as the African Methodist Episcopal (AME), church put a lot of emphasis on the office of bishop.
Tim R. Mortiss: “That would not be a photo of a typical Methodist church though; certainly not in the US. It’s interesting; where was it taken?”
In New York, Lenox Hill neighborhood of Manhattan:
“Christ Church, United Methodist is a United Methodist church in New York City. Located at the northwest corner of Park Avenue and 60th Street, the church was built primarily during 1931-33. Church services began in 1933 but financial impacts of the Great Depression and shortages of World War II prevented the mosaics planned for the interior from being executed until 1948-49. The church was designed by Ralph Adams Cram, who is known for his Gothic Revival ecclesiastical architecture. While designing this church, he used a combination of Romanesque and Byzantine Revival styles instead.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_Church_United_Methodist
Now that’s a beautiful church! But it’s the most unusual Methodist church I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been in dozens of ’em over the years…
As I’ve often said here, I grew up Presbyterian and was an active Presby deacon and then elder, and remained at least a nominal member until just a few years ago.
Growing up in the Protestant world of the postwar US West, we Presbyterians and Methodists considered ourselves ‘cousins’. Calvinism as such was moribund, and these two large denominations were much the same theologically and were the backbone of the ‘Mainline’ of those days. We always considered ourselves just a little superior: we were ‘head’, they were ‘heart’.
These two churches owned the public square. Too bad they stopped preaching the Gospel.
That rood screen would make an excellent iconostasis with some minor (reversible) alteration.
This is the kind of church architecture that would lend itself perfectly to a western expression of the Byzantine rite.