VIRGINIA: Bishop Goff's Gaffe

“There is an 800-pound gorilla in the room. A two-ton elephant. A fire-breathing dragon. Everywhere we turn, there it is. As I name it in this Monday meditation, I ask you to hang in with me…Let’s ask some healthy questions about the state of our Diocese and the wider Church, and let’s listen for what the Holy Spirit might be up to.”

Well, apparently what the Holy Spirit is up too, is that He or She, depending on your theological preference, is not doing his/her job in getting the right slate of candidates. Clearly, the third person of the Trinity needs to either wake up or God the Father needs to talk to him/her for a come to Jesus wake up call.

She writes: “For the first time since 1993, a slate for bishop in the Diocese of Virginia does not include racial, ethnic or gender diversity. This slate as currently composed has become a lightning rod for deep issues facing both the Diocese of Virginia and the entire Church. Our anxieties about diversity, race, sex, gender, Covid losses, economic uncertainty, changes in church attendance and other issues have latched on to this slate, making it the latest repository of our fears. How do we understand and respond faithfully in light of these realities?”

What fears exactly? That the candidates were duly selected by the church’s due process and were all considered eligible for being the diocese’s next bishop, appearing of sound mind, but not necessarily sound theology, (after all you would not even be considered if you did not embrace homoerotic marriage,) the cast of characters are otherwise considered acceptable. They are, by all accounts moderate men of all shades of opinion except when it comes to homosex, for which there is abundant uniformity.

But not according to Goff. Her cries of ecclesial outrage have now been registered and she wants something done to rectify the injustice, nay the bias that she sees.

“We uncover, name and work to heal the brokenness that people experience because of racism, sexism, genderism, heterosexism or any other “isms.” We name what we see, and we work and pray for a Diocese, a wider Church and local congregations that fully reflect the wonder and beautiful diversity that is already present at the feasting table in God’s heaven,” she wrote.

So, no white guys please, or just a token one who can be ignored in favor of someone of color or a sodomite more pleasing to the Church’s growing virtue-signaling wokeness.

It Is ironic that Blacks number less than two percent of all Episcopalians, so why they should be favored over whites who actually pay Goff’s salary, should not be ignored or overlooked. He who pays the piper calls the tune, but not according to Goff. There are even less pansexualists in the church, though they are the noisiest about alleged injustice they experience for failing to recognize their God given queerness.

“We expand our learning and growth through Sacred Ground and other circles. We spend time, honest time, with people who are different from us. We recognize the gifts of individuals, the strengths of our Church and the growing edges for our Diocese, all through eyes of love,” quoth Goff.

So, does that mean that the means test of “sound teaching” just disappears because it is not ecclesiastically correct? Apparently. According to Goff, it matters more to have a woman or LGBTQ sexual deviant become the next diocesan bishop in order to keep the church looking more like the world and the flesh than being obedient to Scripture. God forbid.

Goff asks:

What is the Spirit saying to the Church in this moment of our story?

VOL: That the Church sadly looks more like Jack Spong, Gene Robinson and Jefferts Schori with a little fey Frank Griswold tossed in for good measure.

GOFF: What patterns and trends in the Church and in the world are being revealed?

VOL: Why do we care what the world thinks, the church is supposed to be a counterculture, not a world follower.

GOFF: What is our response to those patterns and trends?

VOL: Ignore them. Your business is to preach the gospel to convert the world, not pander to the culture and the world which is actually passing away.

GOFF: What new thing might God be doing among us?

VOL: Judging by the numbers, not much. The “new thing” began most recently well with Gene Robinson’s election to be the first homosexual bishop of New Hampshire (but long before then), and TEC has been heading downhill ever since.

GOFF: How will we be Jesus’ hands and feet, eyes and ears, mouth and voice in our Diocese and in our world right now?

VOL: Simple. Preach the word. Be prepared in season and out of season. Correct, rebuke and encourage–with great patience and careful instruction… and to make known the “unsearchable riches of Christ,” not the searchable “riches” of human anatomy and frailty.

GOFF: God, lead us and guide us along the way. Still our restless minds long enough so that we will see the way and let you continue to work through us.

VOL: Apparently, the answer is one of four white guys, one of whom she will have to work with or resign.

END

VIRGINIA: Bishop Goff’s Gaffe

By David W. Virtue, DD
www.Virtueonline.org
April 13, 2022

The suffragan bishop of Virginia, Susan Goff is mad, and nothing it seems will contain her anger.

She has written what she calls a “meditation” to the church complaining mightily about the slate of candidates, one of whom will likely be the next bishop of Virginia. The trouble, according to her, is that the four are all white guys, not a black or queer among them. And this bothers her mightily.

With her disclaimer about who is to blame, certainly not the four candidates, Goff launched into her “meditation” about the diocese’s lack of inclusion, a standard trope these days.