(Originally published in 2006, by The Chalcedon Foundation)
Is a historic Protestant denomination in America falling into neo-paganism? Teetering on the brink of apostasy? And if it is, why should that concern the rest of us?
A little over a year ago, the Episcopal Church USA — already deep in controversy for having America’s only openly homosexual bishop — sank deeper when Christianity Today reported that the ECUSA’s official website (www.episcopalchurch.org) sported openly pagan rituals dedicated to a “Queen of Heaven,” complete with offerings of raisin cakes (see http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/print.php?storyid=1565/ for a reprint of Ted Olsen’s Oct. 27, 2004 article/). The ritual begins:
“Mother God, our ancient sisters called you Queen of Heaven and baked these cakes in your honor in defiance of their brothers and husbands who would not see your feminine face.”
The Bible specifically condemns such rituals in Hosea 3 and Jeremiah 7.
The ECUSA’s Office of Women’s Ministries took the raisin cake ritual off its website. But has the denomination learned its lesson?“Thought Experiments” Margaret Rose, director of the Office of Women’s Ministries, told Chalcedon that the whole incident was “an unfortunate mistake, and very misunderstood.” We also asked her about similar selections currently posted on the website: for instance, a “Eucharist Using Female Nouns and Pronouns” (on http://www.episcopalchurch.org/documents/WM_Eucharist.doc), which contains language like this:
“Blessed be the Lady who births, redeems, and sanctifies us.”
“Mother Jesus, have mercy.” (If you have doubts about the historical reality of Jesus, this will not help you.)
And a communion service that ends with the words “Blessed be” — a tag line usually associated with the neo-pagans practicing Wicca, or witchcraft (see http://www.angelfire.com/tx/AuoraSB/, a Wicca site named “Merry Meet and Blessed Be!”).
But none of this, said Rose, is intended for actual use in church services. “It’s only an experiment, a thought experiment,” she said, “a new way of looking at faith.”
In the National Cathedral What about activities that go on inside a church, under the church’s auspices?
It would be hard to name a more prestigious house of worship than the Washington National Cathedral, site of President Ronald Reagan’s state funeral, seen by millions on television.
Not televised was an event held there a year ago, “Sacred Circles: A Celebration of Women’s Spirituality” (where in the Bible do men and women have different “spiritualities”?), Feb. 18–19 (see http://www.cathedral.org/cathedral/sacredcircles/index.shtml/). Here the ECUSA hosted some 40 “workshops” to celebrate “women’s spiritual community.”
“It was meant to be interfaith,” Margaret Rose said.
Mark Rushdoony defines syncretism as, at best, blending foreign elements into Christian terminology; at worst, adding a little Christian terminology to alien beliefs opposed to Christianity.
Where does “interfaith” end and syncretism begin? Consider the Sacred Circles workshops, held under the roof of the National Cathedral. A few examples will suffice.
*“Feeling for Animals,” led by the author of The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegetarian Critical Theory.
*Various workshops featuring Zen and other forms of Buddhism, yoga, and “human-centered services [to] celebrate the sacred power of women.”
*Assorted experts on Sufi (an Islamic offshoot) meditation, and Hindu dance.
*“Sacred Mysteries … Symbolized by the nurturing and mysterious earth … you will honor your body as a fertile vessel with yoga practice and centering. Participants are asked to bring an object that symbolizes their fertile journey.”
*“Feminine Wisdom from the Kabbalah” (Jewish mysticism).
*Buddhist prayers and chants (by a United Church of Christ chaplain) and the Sufi Alchemical Retreat process.
Into the Labyrinth Currently gaining popularity in the ECUSA, the practice of “walking the labyrinth” can now be found in Episcopal cathedrals coast-to-coast — from Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, to the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston.
The labyrinth is “probably New Age, and certainly very, very old,” Director Rose said. “But we don’t really take positions on things that individual churches do. If it’s all right with the rector, and the bishop — I mean, they’re the ones who would have to decide.”
As used in ECUSA churches, the labyrinth is not a maze designed to trick you, but a convoluted, complicated, one-way path. In the words of a leader of the “labyrinth movement,” it is a tool for meditation and “a twisted path to wholeness.”
Veriditas, operating out of San Francisco, is “The Voice of the Labyrinth Movement” (see http://www.veriditas.net/): its website offers a wealth of information.
As explained on the Grace Cathedral website (http://www.gracecathedral.org/labyrinth/), the “labyrinth walk” is done in three stages: Purgation (“releasing, a letting go … shedding thoughts and distractions”); Illumination (“meditation and prayer. Receive what is there for you to receive”); and Union (“you enter the third stage, which is joining God, your Higher Power, or the healing forces at work in the world”) — nothing about God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
It’s supposed to be a Christian exercise, copied from labyrinth designs found in medieval cathedrals; but Grace Cathedral also equates it with the Native American “Medicine Wheel,” the “Never Ending Circle” of pre-Christian Celts, and Jewish Kabala, dating it back to 4,000 years ago. The Reverend Dr. Lauren Artress, founder of Veriditas, calls the labyrinth “A Medieval Tool for the Postmodern Age.” Dr. Artress did not respond to our request for a comment.
When she’s not promoting the labyrinth walk, Dr. Artress promotes similar exercises, such as the “Women’s Dream Quest,” hosted by churches in Houston, Galveston, Memphis, Seattle, Portland, and Canada, according to the Veriditas website. It is described as “an interfaith celebration of women’s spirituality,” utilizing various chants and yoga exercises.
What happens during a labyrinth walk? The Women’s Ministries website, under the heading “Liturgies Using Feminine Images” (see http://www.episcopalchurch.org/41685_60497_ENG_HTM.htm), offers a short article by Sandra Thomas Fox (identified by Margaret Rose as “just an ordinary church member” who felt “alienated” by the “patriarchal language” of the Bible and church liturgy), describing “a powerful experience” she had during her walk. In 2001 it inspired her to write a Eucharist and Morning Prayer Service, about which she said, “If one feels that reading these services is blasphemous, I can only say that writing them felt even more so.” Blessed be.
The labyrinth, references to various goddesses, and the rest is “all ancient stuff,” Director Rose said. But she would not say it was blasphemous, or syncretistic.
“The God we love in Jesus Christ … can take that which is sacred [in non-Christian religions] and use it,” she said. “My personal relationship with Jesus allows me to explore my faith in many ways.”
For many persons, with the sanction of the church, those ways include rituals involving pagan fertility goddesses, yoga, Muslim, Jewish, and Buddhist prayers and recitations. It is difficult to see the difference between this and King Jeroboam I making Israel to sin by setting up golden idols in Bethel and Dan, to give the people an alternative to going to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple of the Lord (1 Kings 12:25–33).
What Does It Mean? For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.
Deuteronomy 31:20
God knew that the children of Israel, after they’d left behind the rigors of wandering in the wilderness and settled down in the Promised Land, would grow soft and conceited and morally slothful, and turn away from Him. It seems the same thing has happened today throughout the Western world. Compared to earlier periods, we have enjoyed a generation and more of unparalleled peace, prosperity, and technological progress.
The soft, flabby, jaded nations of the West have come up with societal innovations that are clearly the products of a cultural hothouse: “gay rights,” animal rights, feminism — and now, increasingly, religious syncretism tending toward outright paganism.
Why should we care what happens inside the ECUSA?
This denomination, whatever its eccentricities, is still part of the universal Church, the Body of Christ, and belongs by right to Jesus Christ the Lord. As Christians, we have a duty to pray for its redemption — and to assist and encourage anyone who actively works for it. Even the ECUSA contains faithful Christians who suffer for the cause of Christ; they deserve our support.
These pagan practices may spill over into other denominations — maybe, someday, your own. There is some evidence that this may already be happening.
These practices constitute “another gospel” (Gal. 1:6–9), which competes with the true gospel we are commissioned to proclaim (Matt. 28:19–20). What is a potential Christian convert in Nigeria or Indonesia to think when he sees goddess-worship in the churches of the West? Talk about feasting on meat from the shambles! And here at home, this false gospel is an obstacle to the reconstruction of the church.
Finally, we have a prophetic duty to warn our own people of the consequences of replacing genuine Christian doctrine with syncretistic mumbo-jumbo.
But if the watchman sees the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand. Ezekiel 33:6
This isn’t a flirtation. It’s at least a betrothal.
Things have only gotten worse since 2006 when your article was published. Now we have the ‘interfaith blending’ that is called ‘Chrslam’!
What fellowship hath light with darkness? Well, this kinda fellowship, I guess!
It astounds me that anyone could construe this as compatible with Christianity, or monotheism of any sort. Obviously, the churches are not unified on some key issues with regard to worship.
The ECUSA has lost a lot of memebers over the years and anyone truly familiar with scripture would probably be alarmed at what is happening. I see this as an object lesson with regard to how we place our trust. Human spiritual leaders are still human, still imperfect and still fallible. While there are some teachers of the Bible for whom I have great respect, I continually remind myself that they might be right about some things, but still wrong about others. We all bear our own burden.
… which is why we must always remember to pray for wisdom and discernment – especially in these times. The devil knows his time is short and wants to cause as much destruction as possible. But the sheep are sometimes all too willing to follow what tickles their collective fancy.
Many years ago, I realized that the people my family had trusted for spiritual guidance were not living up to their claims. I began to pray for guidance daily thereafter, and learned some new things as soon as I did. It took many years, but eventually I found myself with a whole new level of understanding and it seemed that the Bible came alive before my eyes.
For me, it all came down to relying upon God and His written word, and not taking any human organization’s word as being somehow significant. We need fellowship and encouragement from other believers, but the ultimate responsibility for our sprirtual welfare lies with us as individuals.
Amen!
Jeroboam is a perfect example of what can happen. Ancient Israel was set apart, and did not worship the gods of the nations. By deliberately stepping away from this, the Northern Ten Tribes framed their own disastrous outcome. At one time, they had a place to be, but they were dispersed.
My service and devotion to God are not about cultivating some inner sense of satisfaction. It doesn’t matter whether I feel good about my worship, it only matters how God feels about it. Since this column was originally published, some denominations have only moved farther away from biblical teachings. I don’t see this ending happily.
No it won’t end happily. The corruption and dilution of so many denominations continues, and this has been going on for awhile, as you can see by the original date of the post.
I was speaking to a neighbor, just a couple of days ago, and he was telling me that his church, a local Lutheran church of pretty good size is slowly losing members. Apparently the growth is in churches with “Praise and Worship” music. Basically, a Rock concert with a sermon in the middle. 🙂
How horrid. I was raised in the Lutheran church. It is so very sad.
I certainly do not mind music as part of worship. Music has been used in praise of the One True God for a very long time. I would hope that people would choose music that conveys respect and reverence for God.
In my day, I’ve played some Rock n’ Roll, but I try to be selective and avoid songs which promote immorality or godless attitudes. That still leaves me with a lot to work with. That’s just reality; if you are playing for money, you have to be playing that for which the audience is paying, and in the reap world, that means Rock n’ Roll and Country. If the world was fashioned after my tastes, I’d be playing nice quiet Jazz in some quiet little place, but I’m not holding my breath. (But I sure have enjoyed the handful of times I’ve been able to do that.)
I’ve never felt called to play worship music. Nothing against it, but I’ve never felt moved in that direction. I’ve played the occasional hymn, in my day, and when I do, I try to do so respectfully. When I see pictures of P&W bands, most appear modestly dressed and relatively clean cut. I like that. I wouldn’t want to play P&W music in a setting where the musicians are trying to draw attention to themselves with extremes of dress and grooming. Some of these “Praise” bands strike me as looking almost like Heavy Metal bands. I try not to judge others, but speaking for myself, I don’t want to look like a wannabe Heavy Metal musician.
When I worked as a musician, I didn’t want to look like a Heavy Metal musician, or some refugee from a circus sideshow. When we come together to worship, we should look as if we are standing before our Maker, because we are standing before our Maker. Likewise, I would think that the songs used in worship should be uplifting and avoid the negativity and harshness which are so common in contemporary Rock.
It’s probably not realistic to expect that every successive generation will adhere to the same music as their forebears, even in songs of worship. I believe we can use modern styles and modern songs, but not to the extent that reverence and respect for God are compromised.
But also, we need to respect that the ways of the past have their place and while music and worship go hand in hand, it should not be the focus of meeting together. Some churches have found a balance, others, not so much.
I am very old fashioned when it comes to music for church. I like classic hymns for the most part.
When it comes to secular music, yes, I like some jazz. A quiet, lovely rendition of something like “Moonlight in Vermont” or Dave Brubeck from the old days. A lot of other stuff, too, actually.
For non worship related music, I love Jazz and some of the old Standards, but I also love some of the softer sounds of the ‘70s and ‘80s. A lot of this has been given the name Yacht Rock. As I recall, Lee posted about Bobby Caldwell’s “What You Won’t Do For Love”, which is a perfect example of my tastes.
Actually, that was my song, not Lee’s . He did not particularly care for it and I just love it.
I’ve loved that song ever since it was first released. Great tune. Starting in the ‘60s, but developing into the ‘70s and ‘80s, there were some new approaches to harmony, and the result was music that was brilliant. Caldwell’s What You Won’t Do For Love is a great example. It was overused in some cases, but overall, a lot of this music has held up over time. I’d be thrilled to be in a band which did a lot of this music, but it does require a different approach and finding other people interested in it is not a foregone conclusion. Interestingly, there is a band of relative youngsters, by the name of Low Darts, and they do an excellent job of covering such songs.
I will keep that in mind.
I was the biggest musical square imaginable, until I started playing for money. Right away, I realized that I had to listen to contemporary music of the time (late ‘70s) and deliver. Once I got past my initial skepticism, I found some great material. My tastes broadened. I was fortunate to have experienced that when I did, because while many lament the Disco era, there were a lot of other things happening, musically, and truly some memorable music was made.
In the era of Hard Rock, Heavy Metal and Disco, bands had to find a way to distinguish themselves from those genres, and it became common for bands to use sailboats as part of their cover art. That, or photos of twenty-something male musicians without shirts. Somewhere along the line, younger generation music fans started calling that music Yacht Rock, most likely because of the sailboat pictures.
Somehow or another, this caught on and has been the term ever since. I don’t care for the term, but it’s catchier than “R&B Flavored Soft-Rock”, so I accept the term. I don’t like everything called Yacht Rock, but on road trips, where I am frequently driving a car with Sirius XM satellite radio, I usually am tuned to Sirius’ Yacht Rock station, most of the time. At least I have fun singing along. 🙂
This is scary so the fear of it makes us fight to stop it from spreading. But the fear of God makes us fight for a Christian world. Both fears are kosher, but the fear of God trumps everything. His is the victory on the cross and we as believers partake in it.
Well said.