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SOUTH CAROLINA: The Sanctimonious Claptrap of TECSC Bishop vonRosenberg
COMMENTARY
By David W. Virtue DD
www.virtueonline.org
February 8, 2015
Following the disastrous legal defeat of the Episcopal Church's rump Diocese of South Carolina by the courts on who owns what in the long drawn out battle for properties, Bishop Charles vonRosenberg, the minority bishop wrote a Pastoral Letter to his dwindling flock lamenting the decision. In high biblical tones, he promised to continue the fight "to a higher level" indicating no doubt the Supreme Court of the United States after passing through the US Court of Appeals in Richmond.In a "Dear Friends" letter he wrote, "You probably are aware that a decision from the judge in Dorchester County has been handed down and that the judge has ruled in favor of those who have left the church. Most of the Episcopalians who have followed these proceedings realized that such an outcome was completely expected and, indeed, almost a foregone conclusion. The issues in this case will have to be decided at a higher level. Nevertheless, it is disappointing -- especially when so much time, energy, and money was spent in St. George and when such attention is being given by the press to what amounts only to a step in a much longer process."
VOL: If the bishop plans to spend millions more dollars taking it to a "higher level", he will only do so by having to sue again for more money from The Church Insurance Company of Vermont or did he get enough the first time round to continue the fight. He won't say, but he clearly says he will continue fighting even though there is no expectation that the Supreme Court will even hear the case and, if they do, that that they will reverse the lower court rulings. The bishop is too disingenuous by half. To date, the Episcopal Church has spent some $40 million on lawsuits, according to canon lawyer A.S. Haley. That figure is conservative and will need re-evaluation, Haley told VOL recently. Even frivolous lawsuits cost money.
VONROSENBERG: "I write you at this time to repeat and emphasize several important realities. First, we believe that this action is an indication that justice has been delayed. As we celebrate Black History Month, we are reminded that the history of African American witness, along with others, is that delayed justice simply calls us to persevere in our efforts. That certainly is our intention at this moment. We will persevere as we seek justice, even though the personal and financial costs will be significant. The present cause requires us to respond in this way."
VOL: In what possible world has the liberation of blacks from slavery got anything remotely to do with "delayed justice" for a small group of beleaguered Episcopalians whose Church long ago betrayed the Faith in both morals and theology -- a betrayal so deep that not even the Borgia Popes, Thomas Cranmer, or J.C. Ryle would recognize the legitimacy of The Episcopal Church.
So now vonRosenberg wants everyone to believe that the legal loss in South Carolina must be compared to mighty biblical stories of liberation from oppression! Ludicrous doesn't touch it.
VONROSENBERG: "In addition, I call your attention to the fact that our biblical heritage includes accounts of journeys, as symbols of historical movements and of our very lives. Often, such journeys are full of pitfalls and difficulties; however, the journey itself holds the promise of a hope-filled destination. Thus, as we claim such a heritage, we, too, recognize that challenges and disappointments confront us along our way. Nevertheless, we continue to have hope that the journey's end will be full of promise for all the people of God."
VOL:To drag the Bible in to support his case as a minority of "oppressed" persons demands only the ridicule it deserves. The vast majority of what was once his diocese chose voluntarily to leave the diocese. This was not Bishop Lawrence's choice alone. He was compelled to leave by the heretical actions of the Episcopal Church in ordaining a known non-celibate homosexual to the episcopacy and, to a lesser degree, the Episcopal Church's unwillingness to reign in or discipline the totally heretical former Bishop of Newark, John Shelby Spong, for his outrageous 12 Theses that denied every scintilla of Christian orthodoxy. Why would anybody stay in a church where there are no boundaries in faith or morals and then try make the case that you are an oppressed minority. Then he believes that the journey's end will result in an overturning of a case so clearly won in courts that believed "neutral principles" triumphs over the Church's made up Dennis Canon?
This is just another harassment by lawsuit. "It is so totally ridiculous!" The Diocese voted to disaffiliate from the Episcopal Church. They had the right to go on regarding Mark Lawrence as its bishop and to use whatever trademarks, titles, etc. that the court allowed.
"One might wish that the leadership of the Episcopal Church would come to grips with reality. The people of the Diocese of South Carolina voted by an overwhelming majority to leave the Episcopal Church. Any church bureaucracy that would try to force its will on a Diocese where the majority of people have said they no longer want to be affiliated is manifestly evil. They are just trying to suck the life out of the Diocese of South Carolina," wrote the Very Rev. Robert Munday at his blog. Munday called it "pernicious evil."
VONROSENBERG: Finally, then, our goal continues to be the reconciliation to which our Lord calls us. In an ultimate sense, we do not hope for victory over others, and we certainly do not seek a uniform set of beliefs that correspond to ones we hold. Rather, we hope for a time and place where differences are appreciated and valued and where all God's children are accepted, for the mutual benefit of everyone. This surely is faithful to the biblical vision of creation's fulfillment. While we travel the journey before us, therefore, we continue to hold fast to such a vision for the future, which will be in the loving hands of God.
VOL: I can only cite the story I wrote in January 2013 http://tinyurl.com/lcrmsgo "He is classic passive aggressive," says Hank Bahr, 63, an insurance consultant and lifelong Episcopal layman who knows VonRosenberg well.
"We were reading VOL at that time and it hit many of us that the Episcopal Church was not the church of our parents. The Episcopal Church was changing. It had left us orthodox Episcopalians behind.
"When we published some figures revealing that the state of the diocese (East Tennessee) was actually going down, figures which we got from the diocese's own website, VonRosenberg accused me of manipulating and falsifying the numbers. In a letter to me on June 9, 2006, even after repeatedly showing him the figures from his own website, he stated, 'I request that you cease unfair attacks on your Christian brothers and sisters in this diocese and beyond.'
At a later meeting at the church, Bahr said he was stunned, blown away. "I could not believe my ears. People shouted at me and VonRosenberg just listened and kept the microphone going around for more folks to go after me.
"When I read in an ENS press release that his tenure in East Tennessee 'was marked by a measured approach and a focus on reconciliation and relationship,' and that he 'worked to acknowledge diversity and build a spirit of openness in the diocese,' I nearly threw up. That was not what happened. I was there. I experienced VonRosenberg first hand.
"The release said he also was 'noted for putting a priority on pastoral sensitivity and responsiveness, especially to clergy, their families and churches.' That was sure not my experience," said Bahr.
VonRosenberg believes that it is a matter of justice, but justice was served and he lost...big time to the tune of $500 million and no one deserves it more than he does. When the final gavel comes down and he and his rump diocese have lost what will he say when he looks in the mirror, what biblical story or imagery will he invoke? We wait with baited breath.
END