Prayer Warrior or Hatchet Job?

I had never visited the website for Albany Intercessor, but a brief reference on another blogsite prompted me to check it out.  It's a destination that I would not recommend for anyone who wishes to maintain a balanced view of our Church.  In fact, if it were possible, this website alone could convince me that reconciliation within our Diocese of Albany is an increasingly impossible dream.  Here's why:

Layman Torre Bissell chooses a litany and response format for his free-flowing Jeremiads against the Episcopal Church. In his apparent view, the national church to which he himself and we all belong is the enemy of the orthodox leadership of Albany.  The Episcopal Church is therefore rightly floundering because it chooses to walk in the dark.  Its leaders are given over to sin, particularly sexual sin, and the orthodox must shun the company of other Episcopalians in order to walk in the light.

These themes are amplified throughout the postings, going back as the archives show.  But just as an illustration, here are a few of the meditations Mr. Bissell offers in his most recent litany of criticism dressed up as intercessory prayer:

2/23  Jesus, these are times of trouble in the Episcopal Church....  Hold up...all our diocesan leaders and teachers in your hand and protect them from every foe.

2/22  Father...the boat we are in, the Episcopal Church is in great danger of sinking.

2/21  Holy Spirit, so many in the Church are given over to idolatry and falsehood.  Jesus, the Church is fragmenting; some to walk in the light and some to walk in darkness.

2/20  Holy Spirit, guide us in shunning the company of those who claim to follow Jesus but deny the power of the Gospel.

2/21 Jesus, sexual immorality is named among the leaders and people of the Episcopal Church.

This is the same Torre Bissell whom Bishop Dan praised for "fostering intercession ministries."  Since Bishop Bill has succeeded to the Episcopate in Albany, Mr. Bissell has continue to foster, not intercessory ministry but division and separation within our Episcopal Church. 

It is quite possible that Bishop Love, who has expressed a desire for reconciliation and understanding within our diocese, does not know the damage that this website continues to cause by advocating division within the Church.  This public presentation of a viewpoint corrosive to mutual understanding is against the spirit of reconciliation that must become enthroned here for our Diocese to succeed.  True healing with our Diocese must be accompanied by esteem for all of its members, including those to whom the Episcopal Church remains a spiritual home.  At the very least, criticism of the leadership of the Episcopal Church must be restrained by respect.  Let intercession truly seek to heal, not to exacerbate existing wounds and fuel long-standing resentments.

Comments

[Richard Angelo]

I am glad that others have finally looked at the
"Albany Intercessor" link. I have written to the Diocese on several ocassions asking them to remove it, but to no avail. No big suprise there! It is far from Intercessory, at least in my defintion of it nor in my experience in Intercessory prayer.

[Robert Dodd]

The dictionary defines intercession as "entreaty in favor of another." A secondary definition is "mediation." The quoted entries in the Albany Intercessor meet neither definition.

Bp. Love is, of course, not responsible for messes created by the departed Bp. Herzog. He is responsible for seeing to it that the Intercessor is no longer used to batter the Episcopal Church.