On Sunday, the Episcopal Church invests its new Presiding Bishop and Chief Pastor. Bishop Michael Curry has promised to honor and include all minority groups within the church. Certainly, the menu for what we used to term an enthronement includes everyone from Native Americans to Muslim leaders. However, thereâ??s one significant and growing minority that wonâ??t be represented, wonâ??t be in the congregation at the National Cathedral or for that matter in their local parish church. They have no leadership, no organization and no web site or Facebook page. Perhaps we should call them the X factor.
Iâ??m not referring to another group of activists. They havenâ??t formed a rival church or joined an existing denomination. They constitute the most difficult group to penetrate. They are Ex-Episcopalians. That definition needs refining. They arenâ??t the perennial disgruntled, who inflict themselves on church after church, picking fights with all in general and the priest in particular. They arenâ??t among those who leave in indignation because their views on the correct placing of candlesticks were rejected. The mystical numbers and terms, â??28, â??79, Rite 1 or 2, EOW or LEHS mean nothing much and the place of the altar is a matter indifferent.
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