Thaddeus Barnum

A behind the scenes look at the battle for the integrity of the U.S Episcopal Church and the worldwide Anglican Church, written by Thaddeus Barnum, an Episcopal priest who early on met and became good friends with John Rucyahana, a bishop of the Anglican Church in Rwanda. When the leadership of both the U.S. Episcopal Church and the Archbishop of Canterbury began to deny orthodox Christian beliefs, some conservative Episcopal priests started to seek a different path. Instead of leaving the church, they were able to be ordained and put under the territorial care of traditionally believing Archbishops in Rwanda and Singapore. This created a major controversy within the hierarchy of the Anglican Church which sometimes resulted in American power and money being used as a weapon against the poor African and Asian churches. An inspiring story which contrasts the deeply committed faith of some of the Asian and African Anglican Churches against that of the Anglicans of the Western world. The Rwandans in particular have learned how to suffer through their recent history of bloodshed in inter-tribal warfare. According to John Rucyahana, U. S. Episcopal priests in general do not want to suffer and so they accept whatever their superiors say in order that they do not lose jobs, pensions and benefits. Of these priests he says, "You cannot serve two masters. These clergymen have a duty before God to stand for Jesus, call their bishops to repent, and suffer the pain of being evicted from their buildings for the sake of the gospel. You do not negotiate money with heretics. Never! If they evict you, you accept suffering. Then go, stand outside your buildings and let the world know you are clinging to Jesus Christ, not your buildings. My brother, it's time you Americans take up your cross and follow Jesus. What are you waiting for?"… (plus d'informations)