But now are they many members, yet but one body.

Earlier this week Ms. Schori issued a response to the Archbishop of Canterbury in which she politely (or maybe not) told him and the rest of the Communion, we have no need for you. No, she didn't say those exact same words, but one word that she did use, that appeared again in a "talking points memo" from 815 yesterday was the word "autonomy."

I think we know and understand what that word means in general, but how is it used in the church? Can we rightly use the word autonomous faithfully when speaking of the Body of Christ?

As St. Paul admonishes the Corinthian Christians, there is one Body, the church, and one group can't just simply make the assertion that others can simply be brushed off like one would swat away at a fly. No there is much more at stake here.

So what is Ms. Schori getting at here?

I'm afraid that she is advocating a gnostic understanding of Christianity that is contrary to Holy Scripture and heretical. She touts a more full understanding of the work of the Spirit that apparently only those who've been enlightened are privy to. She and others believe that Holy Scripture, 2000 years of church teaching, and the majority of Christendom have all erred, and that through this new revelation, extra-marital relations are not only not sinful anymore, but should be celebrated and acknowledged as holy. Those of us who hold the traditional understanding are simply not in tune with what the "spirit" is doing, and need to sit back and wait for that enlightenment to occur.

Going back to the original question, what of autonomy, she now espouses autonomy as the watchword of TEC. TEC is an "autonomous church which is a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion, serving God and working together to spread through word and action the good news of God in Christ." "The member churches of the Anglican Communion are joined together by choice in love, and have no direct authority over one another."

No, Ms. Shori. You are replacing catholicity with autonomy, and you do so to your peril, and this Church's peril. This Church has been teetering on the edge of cult-like status for decades now, and it seems like Ms. Schori is hell bent on making that a reality.

I frankly have no idea how she says the Creeds with any integrity whatsoever, since autonomy seems to be the only game in town. If she and others like her truly believed that we were part of the "one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church," then we wouldn't be regularly telling the rest of the communion to go pound sand. It's only because TEC bankrolls the rest of the communion that we're allowed to get away with this type of discord within the Body of Christ.

Too bad there isn't a St. Paul ready, willing, and able to call this Church back into line and confront the apostasy that is The Episcopal Church.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus!