The Wickedness of the Episcopal Church, USA

The depths to which the current liberal leadership of The Episcopal Church will sink in its battle against orthodoxy can be seen in the following story, which raises the question: "What makes liberals hate orthodoxy so much that they prefer to aid the progress of Islam in Binghamton, NY, rather than accommodate Christian orthodoxy?"

"The Church of the Good Shepherd, which has stood at #79 Conklin Avenue since 1879, has been willingly turned over to a Muslim entity by the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York, rather than have it remain in the hands of traditional Anglicans who practice the faith once for all delivered to the saints.

The death knell for the structure as a Christian house of worship was delivered on February 9, 2010, when it was sold to Imam Muhammad Affify, doing business as the Islamic Awareness Center, for a mere $50,000, a fraction of the church's assessed $386,400 value.

Now, two months later, the classic red Anglican doors have been repainted green, the simple cross on top of the steeply peaked bell tower has been lopped off, and a windowpane cross in the side door has been disfigured leaving only narrow vertical glass with the cross beam being painted over to hide it. The Muslims consider the cross a pagan symbol.

Meanwhile the Rev. Matt Kennedy, his wife and partner in ministry Anne, their young family and congregation were sent packing in the bitter cold and deep snow in January 2008 when the New York Supreme Court ordered them to relinquish the 130-year-old church building which stands overlooking the meandering Susquehanna River.

The Kennedys' battle with their diocese was sparked by the deepening spiritual morass which is gripping the heart and soul of The Episcopal Church, particularly the authority of Scripture and loosening sexual morals. Finally, the 2006 consecration of Vicky Gene Robinson as bishop in New Hampshire became the spiritual straw that broke Good Shepherd's camel's back.

. . .

The old Episcopal church now houses the new Islamic Awareness Center, which, according to its website, claims to be an "Islamic Dawah organization" or basically, a Muslim missionary group. The website goes on to explain that the newly minted Islamic Awareness Center has representatives available to meet with schools, parent-teacher associations (PTA), and study groups, as well as community organizations.

"We will introduce Islam & Muslims and its practices," the website states. "We will develop our presentations to meet your needs. We also explain Islam's message of peace, share Qur'an and Hadith, and answer questions."

. . .

On Monday (Jan. 12, 2008), home life at the rectory was completely disrupted as packing began in earnest and six years of ministry and family life were relegated into boxes and cartons and more boxes. Not only did the Kennedys not know where Holy Communion would be celebrated the next Sunday with their displaced flock, but they also did not know where they would lay their heads after the rectory keys were turned over

"Tuesday mid-morning the phone rang," Fr. Kennedy blogged. It was Msgr. [Michael] Meaghar, former priest of St. Andrew's Catholic Church and now priest-in-charge of the merged parish of St's. John and Andrew.

The Roman Catholics were having their own issues with the Catholic Diocese of Syracuse. In November of 2007, the Catholic diocese merged two large Binghamton parishes, St. John the Evangelist and St. Andrew's, into one. The people and priest of St. Andrew's were told to close their property and merge with St. John's which happened to be located just down the street on Livingston, a block south of Good Shepherd located on the corner of Conklin and Livingston.

Cutting to the chase, the Catholic monsignor asked Fr. Kennedy, "I was wondering, do you and your family have a place to go?"

The Catholic cleric had read about the Anglican congregation's plight in a local newspaper article.

"Well," he continued. "We're basically moved out of our rectory at St. Andrew's. Would you like to move in?" What the Catholic monsignor had to offer his Anglican brethren was a relatively new, four bedroom, three bath rectory. The Kennedys had keys to their new home in about 24 hours." . . .

The Rev. Edward Tomlonson writes on his St. Barnabas Blog, "Now for the really revealing part of this very shoddy episode ... having claimed that those leaving were not able to uphold the desires of the church founders the Diocese of (Central) New York has spitefully sold the building, at a third of the cost the congregation were offering, to the Muslims. Why did they refuse to even sell the building too them instead adding a legal caveat on the sale of the property barring the new owners from doing business with the original congregation? After all they did not need the building and could have supported a Christian presence for the community. Why was this so cruel? Because they had no need for the property preferring to leave it padlocked and empty ..."

It is difficult to comprehend the rage and hatred toward the orthodox priests and people of The Episcopal Church who are unable to accept the new age heresy and sexual deviations of those who now control that denomination. In fact, it is difficult not to reach for the language of the demonic in an attempt to grasp the enormity of the evil being perpetrated. It must break the hearts of believing Episcopalians to see the destruction of their denomination.