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Letters
from 15 to 21 February 2010
Like
all letters to the editor everywhere, these letters express
the opinions of the writers and not Anglicans Online.
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Last week we wrote
about an incident
in which a member of a parish was expelled by its Rector, and asked for your opinions
about the general concept of expelling people from a church. We've selected some of
the replies below.
About expelling people from
a parish
Your leader was fascinating,
as always, and it brought back recollections of a lifetime of Sundays spent in the pews
of various Anglican churches across the Diocese.
In many ways
Sydney Diocese gets a poor press around the world - described variously as "a
museum piece" and the "power house of the Evangelical wing of the church."
Stouches come and go with
a certain regularity (in some parish churches more than others) and involve power struggles
between Rectors and choirs, leadership and parishioners, power struggles in parish councils
etc and etc. Most are eventually sorted but their legacy tends to linger as the disaffected
look for greener pastures and a forum to tell their stories elsewhere. Stories are told, retold
and parish legends are born.
Over many decades of involvement
in parish churches in various capacities I can recall only two times when someone has
arisen in anger to confront and accuse the Rector of some misdemeanor or indiscretion.
One involved a bipolar person
who became overexcited and had to be restrained and escorted outside to be revived with
parish coffee. The other was much more interesting and occurred in one of the older churches
in the Diocese when the Rector at the time embraced Pentecostal Practices with great
enthusiasm. Overnight the parish changed as car loads of charismatics "came
in". Old-timers who had previously occupied positions were forced out and made to feel
worthless as a horde of newcomers set up all kinds of new structures.
It all became too much at
an evening service one night when a conservative member stood up during the sermon to
accuse the Rector of various forms of heresy. Needless to say the atmosphere was electric
and groups of supporters later rallied to support both the Rector and his detractor.
It was eventually sorted out with surprising good-will on all sides and gradually the
event became a distant memory embedded in the parish history.
Healthy parishes handle stouches
in healthy ways. In my opinion every parish needs a few eccentrics, pricklies etc to
test the boundaries and the margins. Healthy parishes can cope with it all. Congregations
need to be able "to put love into practice." It is easy
to talk waffle in an abstract way about love but when the occasional nut or nutter comes
in to disturb the peace we are all called to the test. It isn't good for any of us to become
too comfortable or complacent!
Harry Pont
St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney
Sydney, AUSTRALIA
hrbrpnt@gmail.com
15 February 2010
I
guess someone
who endangers others — physically — should be attended
to.
I don't think expulsion of
any kind is justified by who we claim to be.
St Stephen and the Incarnation,
in DC, was church and home to quite a few street people. The parish had a group of people
who befriended them, helped them manage themselves, and brought them into parish life.
It was a lot of work.
But Christianity is, isn't it?
Judith Guttman
Luther Memorial
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
jguttman@wi.easterseals.com
15 February 2010
It is unnecessary to expel
a member who does not act out his beliefs. It is rather incomprehensible that anyone
who is unbelieving of the tenets of the creeds should place themselves where they take
part in liturgy that is to them unbelievable. If they repeat the creed week after week
they are apostate and belong in another church.
They are punishing themselves
and don't need us to add to that.
Healthy doubt is a necessary
part of human life but to stay where you don't believe is a punishment in and of itself.
JC Eriksen
St Clare's Episcopal Church
Blairsville, Georgia, USA
17 February 2010
I've
only known of two cases. The first, some years back
in the deeper south, was a man who not only said that blacks
were not fully human but was an active member of the KuKluxKlan.
The second was another man
who bragged that had seduced young boys and made clear his support for the practice.
He presented a threat to the congregation.
Both were what a rubric in
the US 1928 BCP called 'free and evil livers'.
Columba Gilliss
All Saints' Episcopal Church [in Frederick, Maryland]
Adamstown, Maryland, USA
cgilliss@erols.com
21 February 2010
Why are all the flowers used?
OK, this is not the usual
sort of letter that I write to you [comments on a column, once a year or so] but I am
feeling stymied and hope you can help. Any ideas where to find information on the history
of the tradition of using flowers in church? I must not be creative enough in my entries
to various search engines, because all I get is info on how to create the arrangements!
In
regards to publishing this note — Please publish! Maybe
other people will have thoughts or information.
Louise Boling
St Matthew's Episcopal Church
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
18 February 2010
(Editor: we found this
book; perhaps some of our readers will know more. The widely-known Church
Flowers book
by Judith Blacklock has a section about history; you can probably find this book in your
library.)
Earlier
letters
We launched
our 'Letters to AO' section on 11 May 2003. All published our
archives.
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