My friend Jamie McMahon, a member of Calvary Church, Shadyside in Pittsburgh is reporting from a meeting of the Diocese o Pittsburgh in which they’re discussing the diocese’s options in terms of responding to the Episcopal Church now that House of Bishop’s and Executive Council have set a tone for what might be expected in our response to the Primate’s Communique:

“I’m going to attempt to live blog from the meeting I’m attending tonight which is of District VII of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. The ‘leadership’ of the diocese will be present, and we are going to be discussing ‘the choices before the diocese.’
However, I want to begin with a quote from St. Basil the Great, taken from section 78 of his On the Holy Spirit. In it, he describes the nature and tone of the Church in his day, wracked as it was with the Arian controversy:

The love of many has grown cold; concord among brothers is no more; the very name of unity is ignored; Christian compassion or sympathetic tears cannot be found anywhere. There is no one to welcome someone weak in faith, but mutual hatred blazes so fiercely among brothers that a neighbors’ fall brings them more joy than their own household’s success. And just as a contagious disease spreads from the sick to the healthy during an epidemic, in these days we have become like everyone else: imitators of evil, carried away by this wicked rivalry possessing our souls. Those who judge the erring are merciless and bitter, while those judging the upright are unfair and hostile. This evil is so firmly rooted in us that we have become more brutish than the beasts: At least they herd together with their own kindred, but we reserve our most savage warfare for the members of our own household.

I see that when I first read this that I put a note in the margin of my copy that says: ‘Sounds like the church of today!’

I will post what I can as the meeting progresses.”

Read the rest here: Luminous Darkness