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<DIV><FONT face=Candara color=#000080 size=4>Nope, nuh-uh, not happening,
negatory, no way, guess again.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Candara color=#000080 size=4>I was BORN into a Baptist home and
when I moved away from home chose a community church that believed in the 5
points of Calvinism and was reformed (as in The Reformation) in its
theology. My father thought I had joined a cult! For the past 20
years I have been active in the Evangelical Covenant Church which grew out of
Sweden. Our church is friendly, active in the community, and
Bible-based. Sadly, our pastor does NOT believe in predestination or
preach about the sovereignty of God. He believes in the free will of
man.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Candara color=#000080 size=4>I don't even remember a discussion
of Episcopalians and homosexuality/marriage. That must have been on a
different discussion list. I read a book called "Growing Up Baptist" and I
laughed so hard I thought I would bust a gut. It was true on so many
levels and yet wasn't offensive because I felt like I was poking fun at it
myself.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Candara color=#000080 size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Candara color=#000080 size=4>I have been privileged to attend
Evensong at Oxford University. Was a bishop involved in that?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Candara color=#000080 size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Candara color=#000080 size=4>I now think of you as a male, I'll
have you know. My elder, but not yet 50. Maybe I'll send you a
picture of me sitting in a pew with a bulletin in my hand with the piano/pianist
in the background and the pastor behind the pulpit. Too bad I only have
memories of those images, not actual pictures.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Candara color=#000080 size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Candara color=#000080 size=4>And what's up with the last
comment?!? I think it might have hurt my feelings! (Now how do I
make an emoticon that is a crying, sad face?)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Candara color=#000080 size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Candara color=#000080 size=4>Jeanene</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Candara color=#000080 size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Candara color=#000080 size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Candara color=#000080 size=4>----- Original Message -----
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Candara color=#000080 size=4>> Jeanene, somewhere way back
when I thought you had said that your family,<BR>> and your entire church,
were among the Episcopalians who were more or<BR>> less pulling out of the
denomination because of its acceptance of<BR>> homosexual ministers, bishops
and marriages. Now my memory is known to<BR>> have errors, I think the rate
is one part per million bytes of data, or<BR>> something like that, or that's
what I recall, but...<BR>> <BR>> IF you were ever Episcopalian, or
Anglican, you would have bishops.<BR>> <BR>> Now you tell me you are
Baptist, which is as great a shock to me as it<BR>> was to you to find out
that I am (a) male, and (b) over 50.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Candara color=#000080 size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Candara color=#800000 size=6>Pain makes everyone grumpy. But it
doesn't seem to have changed you all that much.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>