WHO'S HAPPY?

But my oh my there's quite the ruckus out there about the invitations and non-invitations to Lambeth 2008.

The liberal progressives are upset (and rightly so, imo) that Bishop Robinson was not invited to Lambeth. Words and phrases such as scapegoating, singling out and refusing to acknowledge a duly elected bishop of TEC are being bandied about.

The conservative regressives (yes, I'll probably take some heat for that one) are upset that Bishop Minns was not invited to Lambeth. Words and phrases such as . . . well, I don't make it a habit to read those websites because I choose not to blacken my day with their less-than-charitable comments, so I can't honestly say what they are saying, but I'm pretty sure "an affront to orthodoxy" isn't far off the mark. And their good friend Archbishop Akinola was rather upset about it, threatening a boycott. However, unlike +Robinson, +Minns is part of a splinter group that has no official recognition by Canterbury, so the non-invitation isn't really all that surprising.

As a commenter over on Thinking Anglicans pointed out, +Robinson and +Minns at least have this in common. And as another commenter said, "Typical compromise, no one is happy."

So, who's happy? The Methodists, that's who.

At our weekly ministerial association meeting (I use that term loosely), the UMC pastor announced rather happily that he's sure glad the Episcopalians/Anglicans are making all the front page news. Apparently their big national conference is next year, and he's sort of hoping the news from that will sort of slide in under the radar thanks to us.

Never a dull moment.