Amen to that

In the article General Synod balances budget [Jan. 2012, p. 1], I read the following on the page 6 turn: “Of major concern is the decline in proportional gifts from dioceses…[these] are currently falling at an annual rate of three per cent…There is no indication that this decrease…will be reversed.”Then, I was struck by the review of the book by the Rt. Rev. John Shelby Spong on page 9. In it, he is quoted as saying, “If people believe they have to be literalists to be Christian but cannot bring themselves be so, they simply drop out.”I am a dropout and it seems I am not alone. General Synod can balance the budget all it wishes, but it seems the solution exists at a more (non) fundamental level.On page 4, Bishop Mark MacDonald refers to trying to go through regular channels to implement urgently needed change. “Now, we realize that we’ve got to do it ourselves,” he says.  “Now, we’re saying, ‘We will take control, whether you like it or not.’ “Amen.