So the Episcopal church shows yet again their disregard for Christians of other traditions and beliefs to their own liberal views. In this particular case a thriving, growing Anglican church was turfed out by the Episcopal church and then sold on to a Muslim group.
This is unbelievable. Is this a portend for the future of the Anglican Church here in the UK?
Cross-post by Rachel Hovenden
An Episcopal church is sold to Muslims after liberal theology dispute
I first heard it here (beware of the language).
So the Episcopal church shows yet again their disregard for Christians of other traditions and beliefs to their own liberal views. In this particular case a thriving, growing Anglican church was turfed out by the Episcopal church and then sold on to a Muslim group.
It came out last week that the Diocese of Central New York had sold the church to ”The Islamic Awareness Center”. Earlier last year the diocese served Rev Matt Kennedy, the Rector of the Good Shepherd in Binghamton, New York, with a notice that he and his congregation must leave their church building and home at very short notice. This left the Kennedy’s and their four children homeless.
The reason seems to stem from the fact that Mr Kennedy felt he could no longer be associated with the increasingly liberal direction of The Episcopal Church. He and his congregation decided to vote to leave the diocese and to seek another bishop for church oversight.
But what began as friendly negotiations for their purchase of the property became a court battle. The diocese decided to sue the Good Shepherd, remove the congregation, buildings and funds and stop any Anglican church buying the building.
The church was padlocked and signs pointing the homeless to the church’s soup kitchen had gone. Before they lost the building, it had been the only soup kitchen operating on the south-side of Binghamton on Thursday nights. But the local Catholic church provided the Good Shepherd with an alternative building and rectory.
And now one year on the cross has been removed, the doors painted green and a new owner “The Islamic Awareness Center” have taken over the property.
So what’s the issue? The main issue here is that the Episcopal church have condemned a thriving church because they dissented from their agenda on liberal theology. The Anglican church has always been a diverse creature. A place where Christians of different traditions have been able to learn from each other and to learn to disagree. But now this is not allowed and “dissenters” from a liberal theology are turfed out.
But worse than that the very centre of Christianity, the worship of Jesus, is at stake. For the witness of the church cannot be aided when its buildings are sold to other faiths that deny Christ’s claims.
What does it say about the Episcopal church that they would prefer to sell their church to Muslims (offering a lower price) than to fellow Christians in the Anglican communion who were already using the building.
But will Rowan Williams act? I think it’s about time.
My US Anglican friend David @ Virtue Online has sent me more on this one:
One of the great lies told by Episcopal Church leaders is that lawsuits are necessary to protect parish properties for future generations of Episcopalians. Frequently, TEC has intervened in cases at the direction of Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori. If you tell a lie long enough and loud enough people will often believe it.
Sometimes, the evidence bubbles up to show that that is simply not true. The former Church of the Good Shepherd parish in Binghamton, NY in the Diocese of Central New York was sold off recently to a Muslim Awareness group for a mere $50,000. Its taxable assessment is $386,000 a fraction of the selling price. It is still a tax exempt property. The diocese had won the property back from a lawsuit brought by Fr. Matt Kennedy and parish leaders, but they lost in a summary judgment to the diocese. This house of worship has belonged to the Church of the Good Shepherd since 1879.
Fr. Kennedy and his flock then purchased what was St. Andrew’s Roman Catholic Church and renamed it Anglican (Binghamton) Church of the Good Shepherd for $500,000. Its assessed value is $914,600. He has also picked up a school and rectory. The parish is now under the Anglican Church of Kenya which is a constituent member of the Anglican Church in North America.
Mrs. Jefferts Schori is on record saying she would never allow a former Episcopal parish to be sold to an orthodox Anglican group. She would sooner sell it off to become a saloon. Apparently selling it to Muslims is also acceptable to her.
The new Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd is now in better buildings where they continue to proclaim in word and deed the biblical gospel of Jesus Christ. The church has also grown since it left TEC and the diocese, VOL was told.
The Church of the Good Shepherd in Binghamton, NY is now an Islamic Awareness Center See link.
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo /q6POY9EaY4fTI9gb1x4tAA?feat=directlink
March 29th, 2010 at 9:30 pm
This is very weird. I’ve tracked the news story all over the place and am still none the wiser.
It appears the Episcopalians objected to the right wing theology of their fundamentalist tenants. Fair enough. But they seem to have they responded to this, to paraphrase one commentator, by evicting a religious group that only disapproves of gays and replacing them with tenants who thinks they should be executed!
There must be another story behind this. There’s a great big blank in the news story where the Episcopalians don’t give an explanation. I can’t imagine there isn’t one. It’s very intriguing.