Transfiguration Letter from Bishop James Mathes
Below is the money quote from Bishop Mathes' four page letter dated 6 August. Read the whole thing, attached.
At the behest of the Diocesan Corporation, I have been raising funds to rebuild congregations hit hard by departures. To date we have raised $500,000 from generous donors. While a recent Court of Appeals decision gives some reason for us to be optimistic that our litigation will end favorably within a year, some of these funds will regrettably have to be used to pay our legal fees.
By the way, he's accepted his invitation to Lambeth.
Comments
Sadly, Bp. Mathes did not proclaim boldly that Jesus is THE Way. He circles all around it. He writes: our "faith.....is A Way"; we are "followers of Jesus IN the Way"; and finally, "our greatest hope and treasure ..... is found ON this Way". (emphases added)
He writes our FAITH (emphasis added) "is a Way, not a destination", so how come he capitalizes "way"? -- (Raise you hands if you want/have Jesus as your destination, AND with you on your journey, led by Him and not by our own understandings!!) -- Aren't capitalizations reserved for the Godhead? Could you call this idolatry? Notice how "hope" and "treasure" are NOT capitalized, where one could argue they could rightly be capitalized.
Perhaps the title of Bp. Mathes' letter is appropriate -- that Jesus and the Holy Scriptures are being transfigured before our very eyes.
"...a life of discernment..." -- yes, indeed.