Letters
from 12 June to 17 June 2006
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Fear
itself
As my
usual Monday morning habit, I read your editorial
of 12 June 2006.
In the final paragraph you wrote about the US General Convention
that some will mutter 'that isn't about religion, it's about power'.
I would add to this sentence "and fear".
Some
fear what the Church might become if we include or exclude some
of humanity. Some fear for the future. Some for Christian orthodoxy.
Fear can drive people to become aggressive, in their talk and behaviour,
in their thoughts. We do something simple and profound as Christians
and Anglicans: we pray together, we show up together
at the communion rail. No fear in that, only joy. As we consider
whether we'll continue together or go off to start separate churches,
we might be wise to consider the words of George Herbert (1593-1633), "No
sooner is a temple built to God, but the Devil builds a chapel
hard by". I hope we can pray together for wise exercise of power
and for the comforting of our fears.
W.J.
Arnold PhD
St Mark's
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, CANADA
12 June 2006
Episcopus
imperator
The
Bishop of Milwaukee did not ask "Who will rid me of this meddlesome
priest?" in so many words, but actions speak louder than words.
He did seize the opportunity to try to rid himself of our wonderful,
warm, human, funny, and loving priest by using the few complainants
for his own purposes. Why their personality conflicts with her
carried more weight than the experiences of the many of us who
have either been brought to Christ or whose faith has been strengthened
by her presence at Grace is beyond my understanding. Oh, wait a
minute - the "investigation" forgot to ask us. Our police are not
allowed to use excessive force in dealing with conflict, but apparently
our bishop is.
Alison
Bush
Grace Episcopal Church, Madison, WI
Blue Mounds, WI USA
kokopelli120@hotmail.com
14 June 2006
Martha
Ann Englert was a different kind of newspaper reporter. She covered "cops
'n' courts" for the Portland, Maine, newspapers as well as any
reporter I knew in 30 years in the newspaper business. She also
reached out in love and compassion to many of the subjects she
covered - to the "all sorts and conditions of men" she later would
encounter in the priesthood.
Martha
was a different kind of priest, as well. She not only was a faithful
associate rector of the Cathedral Church of St. Luke in Portland.
She lived her faith in a transitional neighborhood, sitting with
and ministering to the "despised and rejected," not just preaching
to them.
Her
call to historic Grace Church in Madison, Wisconsin, was greeted
by the cathedral's parishioners with elation for her mixed with
great sadness for St. Luke's. Those parishioners are in a state
of shock today at the recent news of Martha's being subjected to
an archaic "Ecclesiastical Trail" by the Diocese of Milwaukee.
This
loving priest is to be tried by her fellow churchmen in Milwaukee
purely on the basis of hearsay, innuendo and vicious rumor. We
all have said things we later wish we hadn't said; we all have
been irreverent at times; we all have displayed flashes of anger
- if indeed these are the things of which Martha stands accused.
We weren't hauled before an Ecclesiastical Court as a result.
The
nation is watching, inside and outside the Episcopal Church, as
events unfold in Milwaukee. A church trying to appeal to "all sorts
and conditions" in order to grow in love and maintain the unity
that many now see as threatened does not need this distraction.
Putting one of its best and brightest in the ecclesiastical dock
on vague and unsubstantiated charges is hardly the way to appeal
to the unchurched or fulfill the loving precepts of our Lord.
George
Neavoll
Cathedral Church of St. Luke
Portland, Maine, USA
gneavoll@maine.rr.com
16 June 2006
Your
6/17 posting does an injustice to the Bishop of Milwaukee. One
might agree with your concern and regret the use of any kind
of force in the church. The great legacy of the "three-legged
stool" of Scripture, Tradition and reason is at risk if we are
unable to reason together on many issues. That being said it
is also true that sometimes bishops must act on behalf of the
church in difficult and even confrontational circumtances.
I
write to complain about only one sentence. "It was the recent
event of a bishop presnting a priest and specifying the bishop's
chaplain to be the judge..." implies that a decision was made
after the fact of presentment to name a specific individual as
judge. In fact, judges are elected to 4 year terms at the annual
convention and the members of the court elect their own chief.
The presiding judge was chosen well before the presentment --
even before the rector in question was installed.
You
also fail to mention the elected Standing Committee (4 clergy,
4 lay members) which functions as the canonically required review
committee. The standing committee reviewed evidence and voted
the presentment. The bishop issued the inhibition.
None
of this is a comment on the merits of the case. But fundamental
fairness should be the goal of both due process and of responsible
and accurate reporting.
Mary
Ann Cook
Episcopal
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
18 June 2006
(Editor's
note: Ms
Cook and her husband are two of the complainants in the bishop's presentment.)
Weak-kneed
bigots
Congratulations.
Your recent bigotry regarding
gays has made it much easier for those of us who try to teach
American Culture and Religion to Chinese students.
We can
now use your church as a real life example of what it means to
be weak kneed, and bigoted at the same time.
You
apologize for doing the clearly right thing? WWJD?
Viva
God! And all that
Jim
Bishop
Baoding Teachers College
Baoding, Hebei, CHINA
jim.bishop@gmail.com
17 June 2006
(Editor's
note: you might be right.)
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