Letter to Members of the United Church of Christ

[Critters2]

The following letter was e-mailed to a good many members of the UCC, along, apparently, with members of Congress and the President.
It's pretty amazing. Take a look...


Representatives and members
of the United Church of Christ (USA)

Promulgation of an anathema

At its session on 1 May 2011, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Italy
issued a document N. 2011/XX under the title “Blessing of hetero- and
homosexual couples in non-traditional communion of life”. Behind this
document is not the Spirit of Christ (Rom 8:9) but the spirit of
antichrist. It denies the authority of God and His laws. The authors have
thus joined three religious organizations which are no longer Christian
Churches but have become the harlot of antichrist and the spiritual
Babylon. Your apostatical Church ranks among them.
Marriage is a sacrament, but cohabitation of two men or two women is an
abomination.
The basic axiom of the time of antichrist is that evil must be accepted as
good and promoted in positive terms.
Homosexuality is evil and an abomination. Perversion and crime has become
a fundamental principle not only in the world but even in the Church.
Because You have changed the basic moral norms and broken God’s
Commandments, You have separated Yourselves from Christ and from His
Mystical Body, i.e. from His Church. Your name “Church of Christ” is now a
mere mockery. You have been a Church of antichrist already for several
years. You no longer have the saving faith since You rejected the Spirit
of truth, the Spirit of repentance.
In 1977, for the first time, You ordained a public lesbian as a pastor.
This was followed by next ordinations of homosexuals and lesbians.
In 1980, You officially approved ordination of active homosexuals.
In 1991, You broke God’s laws and You give Your so-called blessing to
antimarriages. This is public blasphemy against God and a public scandal
among both Christians and non-Christians all over the world.
God punishes homosexuality: “He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah
by reducing them to ashes as a warning to future sinners.” (2Pt 2:6)
Dear members of the United Church of Christ, we hereby call upon You to
separate from the antishepherds who betrayed Christ. If You want to be
saved from eternal condemnation in hell, be separated and come out of this
Babylon. “Unless you repent, you will all perish!” (Lk 13:3)
PROMULGATION OF ANATHEMA ON REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST:
The Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate, by authority of the apostolic and
prophetic office, in the name of the Triune God, promulgates before all
Christians of the United States of America: The United Church of Christ is
no Church of Christ but a harlot of antichrist. It is under God’s anathema
– i.e. under a curse (Gal 1:8-9).

On behalf of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate

+ Elijah
Patriarch

+ Methodius OSBMr + Timothy OSBMr
Secretaries of the BCP

Lvov (Ukraine), 7 July 2011

Copies to:
- The Christian Churches in USA
- President of USA and US Congress
- Mass media

Address: Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate, 3 Sosnova St., Lvov -
Bryukhovychi, 79491, Ukraine
www.uogcc.org.ua, www.community.org.ua; byzcathpatriarchate@gmail.
com

[dmallind]

1. So which side in this spat never salts their porridge? nt

[trotsky]

3. If only there were some authority that both of these groups recognize...

someone not of this world, someone they both claim to worship and follow, who could speak to both congregations - nay, the entire world - and express exactly what it is that entity wants us to do. So much strife could be eliminated.

Must be too busy, I guess.

[mysuzuki2]

2. what exactly is the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate?

and why should anyone care what they think?

[MrDiaz]

6. why?

"why should anyone care what they think?"

Why should anyone care what Muslims think?

[dmallind]

9. or the UCC then? nt

[Critters2]

12. Turst me. The UCC doesn't care. Well, we may be saddened

at the lack of ecumenicity. But we'll keep ordaining and marrying gays just the same.

[dmallind]

16. But who should care what the UCC thinks if we care not about the Ukrainian Orthodox? nt

[dmallind]

8. Seems to be a schism in the Ukrainian Orthodox church

but I am sure someone with better google-fu than I will be along to minimize religious idiocy soon, as usual.

[struggle4progress]

17. It seems to be a group formed in April 2011 by a group formed in 2009; the given webpage

seems to consist entirely of a large number of posts in English, which seems strange for an allegedly Ukrainian group with a Ukrainian web domain, and the posts seem to go back to 2005

I don't know why one group in the Ukraine would write to a US church, of a different denomination, to denounce a report, from a third denomination in Italy

Oh, wait ... they've also sent copies to the president and the media: this is somebody's scheme for grabbing attention

[Critters2]

18. I love the idea that the sent this to the President and congresscritters!

Cuz, God knows they've got nothing else to worry about right now. :rofl:

[LuvNewcastle]

4. I find it interesting that they protest

the ordination of "public" lesbians and "practicing" homosexuals. Are ordinations of private lesbians and celibate gay people acceptable? These "Byzantines" from the Ukraine don't sound like a legitimate denomination to me. Judging by the language that they use in this letter, they just sound like a few Western {not Ukranian} nutjobs to me.

[barbtries]

5. they simply must

have someone to hate on.

[HockeyMom]

7. The Catholic Church (Eastern Rite)

is trying to tell a Protestant church what they should do? Um, I thought they decided to ignore the Catholic Church way back in the Middle Ages, i.e., Henry, Luther, Calvin, etc.

Why would they pay attention to them NOW?

[LuvNewcastle]

10. That's why I don't think they're for real.

This makes about as much sense as Benedict telling the Methodists what to do, or vice versa. It would just cause acrimony and it would probably have the opposite effect of the one intended.

[Critters2]

11. I'm not clear what the intended result is.

But I do find it amusing that they claim to have sent this not only to members of the UCC (several friends of mine got it), but to Congress and the President. Yeah, they've got nothing better to do than worry about whether ordaining glbts pisses off God.

[rug]

13. They're a splinter founded just shy of two years ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_Orthodox_Greek_Catholic_Church#Declaration_of_Byzantine_Catholic_Patriarchate

[LuvNewcastle]

14. Yes, and the Head of the Church,

Michaljo Osidach, claims to have been clandestinely consecrated as a bishop in 1989, but isn't recognized as a Catholic bishop as of April this year. Just as we have small denominations of cranks in Protestant America, I'm sure that there are similar sects among the Eastern Rite religions.

[dimbear]

15. One little point......that's not hacked out by Babelfish or something,

whoever put that curse down on paper knew English for real. Somehow I'm guessing a little more than the high muckymuck of some church in Lvov.