Bishop Bullies Believers

From Worldmag.com:

"One down, five to go.

At 9:30 a.m. on July 13 liberal Episcopal bishop Andrew Smith of Connecticut, several of his administrators, a pro-gay feminist priest, a locksmith, and a computer technician swooped into conservative, 200-congregant St. John's Episcopal Church in Bristol, Conn.

They pried open the locked pastor's office, confiscated pastoral and church records, took down the church's website and redirected traffic to the diocese's website, changed the locks on all the doors, and announced to protesting church leaders and members that the diocese had taken over St. John's. Bishop Smith said he had suspended Rev. Mark Hansen from ministry, and Rev. Susan McCone was now in charge. Rev. Hansen is one of the six priests in the state who said Bishop Smith was welcome to visit their churches but not to preach or administer the sacraments . Because he had voted to approve the consecration of an openly homosexual bishop in the Episcopal Church (ECUSA), they asked him to appoint a theologically conservative bishop to provide alternate oversight for them, as ECUSA policy allows. When the bishop refused, the six churches began withholding dues from the diocese. In March, he suspended them from ministry, declaring they had "abandoned the communion." They rejected the charge and refused to budge... (Read the rest of the story here.)"

I have been following this saga with some interest for many months now. I admire Rev. Hansen and the other five men who have placed principle over politics. The storm-trooping actions of Bishop Smith should be repudiated by all sincere Episcopalians and lovers of Biblical truth. Is this what the future holds in denominations where liberal leaders try to impose order upon conservative churches and pastors? I shudder to think.....