Letters from 27
June to 4 July 2004
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What did he
read last week?
YOUR PUBLICATION
FOR THE WEEK of
June 27, 2004, opened my eyes to the true nature of the Church of England
and its sister Churches around the world. It was not a comforting revelation
for me to come to realize that the C of E was truly a protestant institution,
and not a 'branch of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church' that I
always believed it to be during my ministry.
I was rector of a
large 'catholic' parish in New York where I held an ecumenical service during
the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Following the service, the local
Roman Catholic priest took a tour of the building and said: 'Well you certainly
have the externals of the catholic religion here'. I was somewhat offended
by his comments, but now, some thirty years later, I have come to understand
what he meant. Some Episcopal churches do look like Catholic churches,
but that's where the similarity ends. The externals are there, but the substance
is not. Indeed, most of our parish churches are but little more than protestant
chapels of ease that look like they were catholic, but in fact are substantially
nothing more than dressed up pretty places.
As difficult as this
revelation has been for me, I am indebted to you for making it clear to me
that I have been a protestant minister and not a catholic priest for lo
these many years. It does bring tears to my eyes, but then, knowing the truth
often involves pain and suffering.
The Reverend Louis
V. Sharples
Retired (assisting, Church of the Good Shepherd, Hemet, California)
Perris, California, USA
30 June 2004
Email friends desired
I
AM A MALAWAIAN Anglican,
aged 23, seeking Anglican pen friends. I like choral music
and church activity participation.
Yours Faithfully,
Mac Donald Ambali
Saint Barnabas Parish, Malawi
Blantyre, Malawi, AFRICA
ambalimac@yahoo.com
1 July 2004
Help me make
the most of my year in the US
I
AM A VISITOR,
in the USA for one year while writing a book about differences between
English-origin churches in the USA and my own country. I have been
attending Episcopal churches in the Great
Plains, because that seems to be the most American part of America.
Before I came here my pastor told me to be careful because US Episcopal
churches were godless and had rewritten the Bible. I found this
fascinating. I have been in the US for several months and have
not yet found any godless churches or different bible. In fact,
every church that I have visited (17 so far) has been devout, friendly,
and very much like churches at home. Can anyone help me find one
of the churches that my pastor was referring to? Google does not
give useful answers for this question.
S Klebe
Wermut
Hoople, North Dakota, USA (currently)
SKWermut@aol.com
4 July 2004
Earlier
letters
We launched our 'Letters
to AO' section on 11 May 2003. All of our letters are in our
archives.
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