American Muslim-Anglican priest is deposed: CEN 4.02.09 April 2, 2009
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Syncretism, The Episcopal Church.add a comment
| The Episcopal Church’s “Muslim-Anglican” priest has been deposed from holy orders. In a statement released on April 1, the Diocese of Rhode Island said the Rt Rev Geralyn Wolf had “imposed a sentence of deposition” upon Dr Ann Holmes Redding as a “priest of the Church cannot be both a Christian and a Muslim.”
In a June 2007 interview with the Episcopal Voice, the Seattle-based Diocese of Olympia’s newspaper, the Dr. Redding announced she was both a Christian and a Muslim. “The way I understand Jesus is compatible with Islam,” she said. “I was following Jesus and he led me into Islam.” Read it all in The Church of England Newspaper. |
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Priest told she can’t be a Christian and a Muslim: CEN 10.17.08 p 7. October 19, 2008
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Islam, The Episcopal Church.1 comment so far
The Episcopal Church’s Muslim-Anglican priest has been given six months to recant of her profession of Islam, or be defrocked.
Last week, the Bishop of Rhode Island, the Rt. Rev. Geralyn Wolf affirmed the decision of a diocesan review committee that the Rev. Ann Holmes Redding had “abandoned the Communion of the Episcopal Church by formal admission into a religious body not in communion with the Episcopal Church.”
In an interview with the Seattle diocesan newspaper in June 2007, Dr. Redding stated that she was both a Christian and a Muslim. “The way I understand Jesus is compatible with Islam,” she said. “I was following Jesus and he led me into Islam.”
Islam and Christianity were complementary she had told the Episcopal Voice. The Muslim profession of faith, “there is no God but God and Mohammed is the prophet of God,” did not contradict anything in Christianity, nor did the professions made at a Christian baptism contradict anything in Islam, Dr. Redding said.
The language of the creeds was not to be taken in a literal sense, she explained. “We Christians, in struggling to express the beauty and dignity of Jesus and the pattern of life he offers, describe him as the ‘only begotten son of God.’ That’s how wonderful he is to us. But that is not literal.”
On March 25, 2007 Dr. Redding was made redundant as director of Christian Formation at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle due to financial pressures. While serving under license in the Diocese of Olympia (Seattle), Dr. Redding remained a priest canonically resident in the Diocese of Rhode Island under the jurisdiction of Bishop Wolf.
On July 3, 2007 Bishop Wolf announced that she had issued a “Pastoral Direction” to Dr. Redding suspending her from the ministry and giving her a year “to reflect” on her views. Dr. Redding honored the suspension but was able to take up a one year teaching post in New Testament studies at the Jesuit-run Seattle University.
Bishop Wolf extended the suspension an additional 90 days, but last week served notice that Dr. Redding must either recant or resign from the ministry of the Episcopal Church. If she does neither, she will be removed from the priesthood—-using the same canonical procedures that have been used to depose conservative clergy who have quit the Episcopal Church for other Anglican provinces.
Dr. Redding told the Seattle Times she had no intention of recanting, as she did not believe her views on the person of Christ were out of the mainstream of the Episcopal Church.
“I’m saddened and disappointed that this could not be an opportunity” for the church to broaden its views, she said. “The automatic assumption is that if I’m one of ‘them,’ I can’t be one of ‘us’ anymore.” But “I’m still following Jesus in being a Muslim. I have not abandoned that.”
‘Muslim-Anglican priest’ is banned in Seattle: CEN 7.13.07 July 14, 2007
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Islam, The Episcopal Church.3 comments
The Episcopal Church’s ‘Muslim-Anglican’ priest has been banned from exercising her ministry for one year and has been asked to reflect on her vocation.
The Rev. Dr. Ann Holmes Redding last month announced that she had converted to Islam approximately 15 months ago while serving as director of faith formation at St. Mark’s Cathedral, Seattle. While serving under license in the Diocese of Olympia (Seattle), Dr. Redding remained a priest canonically resident in the Diocese of Rhode Island under the jurisdiction of Bishop Geralyn Wolf.
On July 3, Bishop Wolf wrote to the Bishops of the Episcopal Church that she had telephoned Dr. Redding upon reading of her profession of faith in Islam and “After listening to her comments, it became clear to me that this was both a doctrinal issue and a pastoral concern.”
The bishop stated she had issued a “Pastoral Direction” to Dr. Redding “to give her the opportunity to reflect on the doctrines of the Christian faith, her vocation as a priest, and what I see as the conflicts inherent in professing both Christianity and Islam. During the next year she is not to exercise any of the responsibilities and privileges of an Episcopal priest or deacon. In addition, she may not teach or preach in any Episcopal Church, seminary, or other Episcopal affiliated institution. Other aspects of the Pastoral Direction will remain private.”
Bishop Wolf declined further comment, but Dr. Redding told the Seattle Times she was “deeply saddened” by the ruling. She stated she had no plans to renounce her orders. “The church is going to have to divorce me if it comes to that,” she said. “I’m not going to go willingly.”
While banned from Episcopal institutions, Dr. Redding will teach New Testament studies at the Jesuit-run Seattle University beginning in September.
US Priest Says Islam Christianity Are United: CEN 6.08.07 p1. June 7, 2007
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Islam, The Episcopal Church.3 comments
It is possible to be an Episcopal priest while being a Muslim, the former director of faith formation at St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral in Seattle, has claimed in an interview with her diocesan newspaper.
The Rev. Ann Holmes Redding told the Diocese of Olympia’s Episcopal Voice that “the way I understand Jesus is compatible with Islam.” While some Christians and Muslims “think I must convert from one to the other, the more I go down this path the more excited I am about both Christianity and Islam,” she said.
“I was following Jesus and he led me into Islam, and he didn’t drop me off at the door. He’s there too,” said Dr. Redding, whose CV states she earned a doctorate in New Testament studies from Union Theological Seminary in New York and was formerly on the staff of the Episcopal Church’s General Theological Seminary and an assistant professor of New Testament Studies at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta before joining St. Mark’s in 2001.
Islam and Christianity were complementary she suggested and that the Muslim profession of faith, “there is no God but God and Mohammed is the prophet of God,” did not contradict anything in Christianity. Nor did the professions made at a Christian baptism contradict anything in Islam, Dr. Redding said.
“For me to become a human being means to identify solely with the will of God. Islam gives me the tools to do that,” she explained.
The conflicts over the nature and person of Jesus between Christianity and Islam do not hinder Dr. Redding’s profession of both faiths. “We Christians, in struggling to express the beauty and dignity of Jesus and the pattern of life he offers, describe him as the ‘only begotten son of God.’ That’s how wonderful he is to us. But that is not literal,” she told her diocesan newspaper.
“When we say Jesus is the only begotten one, we are saying he’s unique in some way. Islam says the same thing. He’s the only human aside from Adam who is directly created by God, and he’s different from Adam because he has a human mother. So there’s agreement—this person is unique in his relationship to God,” she said.
“I agree with both because I do want to say that Jesus is unique, and for me, Jesus is my spiritual master,” said Dr. Redding.
On March 25 Dr. Redding was made redundant at St. Mark’s Cathedral due to financial pressures. However a spokesman for the diocese told The Church of England Newspaper she remained a priest in good standing within the Episcopal Church and that her views were not problematic for the diocesan bishop.
