I have yet to read this essay in Commonweal, a lay Catholic magazine, but it has been recommended to me by a number of people whose opinions I value. The author, Barry Jay Seltser, belongs to an Episcopal parish in this area, but I must admit that his name was new to me.
Here’s a taste:
One of the most attractive and intriguing aspects of the Episcopal Church is its faith that a democratic religious community that locates control in the individual or the parish can still remain faithful to an ancient tradition of creedal orthodoxy and discipleship. It is not surprising that such a community is likely to be more contentious, disordered, and ambiguous than one with clearer lines of authority or arbiters of orthodoxy. Whether democracy and creedal orthodoxy are compatible is now being sorely tested, and there is much at stake for other religious communities in the outcome.