Saturday, 9 January 2010
MORE ON THE TOXIC CHURCH
I don't know, all these respected
clergy persons et al, lying through
their teeth. This is really going to
upset the bishop of Lichfield.
THE PRAYER LIST
I have received an urgent prayer request from Bluebird, a long time member of our community here at OCICBW...
Dear Jonathan,
I've mostly been lurking lately as depression and physical illness have gotten to me, but my family really needs prayers bigtime. Here in Farmersville, Texas we're having the worst freeze in years, with temperatures in the single digits F. Thursday night I left the water on, but not enough. The pipes froze, with no water coming out since then. Please pray that there is little or no damage. Living mostly on my husband's disability we can't begin to pay for much work and I just don't know what we'll do if the pipes burst. Right now I just want to die for my stupidity. Oh, and today is my birthday.
Please pray for Bluebird, her family and her community, and also all those who are struggling with the cold weather in the northern hemisphere and those down under who are again threatened by bush fires and drought.
Dear Jonathan,
I've mostly been lurking lately as depression and physical illness have gotten to me, but my family really needs prayers bigtime. Here in Farmersville, Texas we're having the worst freeze in years, with temperatures in the single digits F. Thursday night I left the water on, but not enough. The pipes froze, with no water coming out since then. Please pray that there is little or no damage. Living mostly on my husband's disability we can't begin to pay for much work and I just don't know what we'll do if the pipes burst. Right now I just want to die for my stupidity. Oh, and today is my birthday.
Please pray for Bluebird, her family and her community, and also all those who are struggling with the cold weather in the northern hemisphere and those down under who are again threatened by bush fires and drought.
From Alison:
Please pray for my brother, Elliott, who was seriously injured in a car crash on Thursday. He broke both his legs, one arm, cracked his sternum and one vertebra. He is scheduled for two surgeries this week, and is facing a long road to recovery. We are thankful that there were no head or internal injuries, but at age 66 the damage is bad enough.
My brother is a retired Methodist minister, and had recently taken on an interim job at a congregation which was almost at war within itself. My family feels that if God really didn't want my brother in that position, there might have been a more subtle way to extricate him.
As it is the weekend, please place any of your own prayer requests in the thread to this post.
My brother is a retired Methodist minister, and had recently taken on an interim job at a congregation which was almost at war within itself. My family feels that if God really didn't want my brother in that position, there might have been a more subtle way to extricate him.
As it is the weekend, please place any of your own prayer requests in the thread to this post.
Friday, 8 January 2010
GEORGE CAREY - NO SOFT TOUCH
OR SOFT TO THE TOUCH?
From THE TELEGRAPH:
In a stark message, Lord Carey said the Church of England needs to be "tougher" and more outspoken in preserving its beliefs. It came as he said migrants wanting to come to the UK should respect the country's Christian heritage and warned the country could be in "deep trouble" if immigration and population keeps growing at the current rate.
Lord Carey said: "I think we need a tougher Church. We Christians are very often so soft that we allow other people to walk over us and we are not as tough in what we want, in expressing our beliefs, because we do not want to upset other people. We have got to be more outspoken."
Lord Carey said migrants should show an understanding of Christian heritage while the immigration system needs to focus more on values
He said: "I worry about my grandchildren. I want this country to carry on being one that values the Christian heritage, but most of all values the democratic standards and all that this country has fought over. It has been a battle – when you think, it has only been in last 100 years that the average man or woman has received the vote, so it has been a tough struggle. Our values therefore are very important to us, we want other people to recognise that and to be committed to it as well."
He warned that if concerns about the level and nature of immigration were not addressed, it simply would play into the hands of the far right British National Party.
In a stark message, Lord Carey said the Church of England needs to be "tougher" and more outspoken in preserving its beliefs. It came as he said migrants wanting to come to the UK should respect the country's Christian heritage and warned the country could be in "deep trouble" if immigration and population keeps growing at the current rate.
Lord Carey said: "I think we need a tougher Church. We Christians are very often so soft that we allow other people to walk over us and we are not as tough in what we want, in expressing our beliefs, because we do not want to upset other people. We have got to be more outspoken."
Lord Carey said migrants should show an understanding of Christian heritage while the immigration system needs to focus more on values
He said: "I worry about my grandchildren. I want this country to carry on being one that values the Christian heritage, but most of all values the democratic standards and all that this country has fought over. It has been a battle – when you think, it has only been in last 100 years that the average man or woman has received the vote, so it has been a tough struggle. Our values therefore are very important to us, we want other people to recognise that and to be committed to it as well."
He warned that if concerns about the level and nature of immigration were not addressed, it simply would play into the hands of the far right British National Party.
THE DVANT DISCO
It's Loud Friday and these four tracks off the above
album (released last month) are certainly loud.
I've played you two soppy, classical records this week and
Lois was very gracious about them. So, you can let our
little group of headbangers enjoy themselves once a week.
Okay!?
THANK GOD FOR BISHOP ALAN (CONTINUED)
From Greg outta England:
The comments from Ripon and Leeds are shocking. In 2004 I wrote a Masters dissertation which proposed a study of the bullying of homosexual clergy in the CofE. the study itself hasn't happened, but in writing this dissertation II found several studies in my literature review suggesting that if anyone looked they may well find an issue. Three sources I drew upon were:
Sani, F. Reicher, S. (2000) ‘Contested identities and schisms in groups: Opposing the ordination of women as priests in the Church of England’ British Journal of Social Psychology 2000, 39, pp95-112, British Psychological Society
Manufacturing Science and Finance Union (1998) ‘Report on the experience of women following ordination to the priesthood in the Church of England’, in BBC News, 5 April 1998.
Fletcher, B. (1991) Clergy Under Stress, A study of homosexual and heterosexual clergy, London, Mowbray
To quote my dissertation:
"Church attention has begun to focus openly on bullying in the past six or seven years, notably with a survey in six dioceses (the regional administrative regions of the Church) by the Manufacturing Science and Finance Union (1998), now merged into the trade union Amicus. This survey consulted several hundred women priests out of approximately two thousand now working in the Church, and from the sample found over 70% had experienced some form of bullying since 1992 when they had begun to be ordained as priests. This bullying, only rarely physical in nature, came from a range of sources: Parishioners, colleagues and managers. In addition to this, the national press occasionally reports instances of bullying in the Church, such as in an article about bullying that quoted one male priest speaking of his relationship with his Bishop:
“For three years now I have been harassed and bullied and then left to stew in turn…” (The Times, 17 December 2002)
As this report goes on to record, the National Secretary of Amicus, Chris Ball, considered that bullying is an issue for employees of the Church just as in any other workplace. What is different about the Church is its special status as a religious institution, which until 2003 was largely exempt from employment regulations.
The Church’s reaction to such disclosures has been to condemn bullying and make clear its intention to combat it, while also observing that because so much evidence is anecdotal or partial, it cannot be treated as conclusive. Whether such promises, while very positive, extend convincingly to gay employees is contested, given that the Church is currently campaigning to be exempt from the relevant legislation. In practice, does, for example, ‘simple’ disadvantage like not being allowed to be a cleric and have a same-sex partner, or to be a cleric, openly have a same-sex partner and therefore be required to turn down preferment (Fletcher, 1991) constitute bullying, institutional homophobia or a right application of God’s holy law?" (2004)
The comments from Ripon and Leeds are shocking. In 2004 I wrote a Masters dissertation which proposed a study of the bullying of homosexual clergy in the CofE. the study itself hasn't happened, but in writing this dissertation II found several studies in my literature review suggesting that if anyone looked they may well find an issue. Three sources I drew upon were:
Sani, F. Reicher, S. (2000) ‘Contested identities and schisms in groups: Opposing the ordination of women as priests in the Church of England’ British Journal of Social Psychology 2000, 39, pp95-112, British Psychological Society
Manufacturing Science and Finance Union (1998) ‘Report on the experience of women following ordination to the priesthood in the Church of England’, in BBC News, 5 April 1998.
Fletcher, B. (1991) Clergy Under Stress, A study of homosexual and heterosexual clergy, London, Mowbray
To quote my dissertation:
"Church attention has begun to focus openly on bullying in the past six or seven years, notably with a survey in six dioceses (the regional administrative regions of the Church) by the Manufacturing Science and Finance Union (1998), now merged into the trade union Amicus. This survey consulted several hundred women priests out of approximately two thousand now working in the Church, and from the sample found over 70% had experienced some form of bullying since 1992 when they had begun to be ordained as priests. This bullying, only rarely physical in nature, came from a range of sources: Parishioners, colleagues and managers. In addition to this, the national press occasionally reports instances of bullying in the Church, such as in an article about bullying that quoted one male priest speaking of his relationship with his Bishop:
“For three years now I have been harassed and bullied and then left to stew in turn…” (The Times, 17 December 2002)
As this report goes on to record, the National Secretary of Amicus, Chris Ball, considered that bullying is an issue for employees of the Church just as in any other workplace. What is different about the Church is its special status as a religious institution, which until 2003 was largely exempt from employment regulations.
The Church’s reaction to such disclosures has been to condemn bullying and make clear its intention to combat it, while also observing that because so much evidence is anecdotal or partial, it cannot be treated as conclusive. Whether such promises, while very positive, extend convincingly to gay employees is contested, given that the Church is currently campaigning to be exempt from the relevant legislation. In practice, does, for example, ‘simple’ disadvantage like not being allowed to be a cleric and have a same-sex partner, or to be a cleric, openly have a same-sex partner and therefore be required to turn down preferment (Fletcher, 1991) constitute bullying, institutional homophobia or a right application of God’s holy law?" (2004)
I know these sources are now old, but the evidence has been around for years and it is disappointing to see bishops still appparently unaware - unless they think things have improved for some undefined reason. How do these people get to be bishops? Thank God for Bishop Alan too.
MORE CULTURAL HIGHLIGHTS FROM
THE HEARTLAND OF ANGLICAN,
COVENANTAL ORTHODOXY
This is terrible. It is obvious that many of these children will not have been associating with other children that might grow up to be gay. So, there is absolutely no reason to kill them.
This barbaric and sickening practice will be supported, in part, by exactly the same people that the Ugandan minister of ethics cites when he says it's okay to oppress and kill gay people because that's what people in Uganda want.
No wonder the Ugandan church and state authorities don't want the West meddling in their cultural affairs.
THE MIDNIGHT JUKEBOX
Here's some choral music by Duruflé that isn't the Requiem
(although it is from a CD that does contain that work).
It's the Four Quartets and very beautiful they are too.
Thursday, 7 January 2010
EVERY TIME - YOU JUST HAVE TO WAIT
Iris Robinson 2008
From WIKIPEDIA:
I
n June 2008, shortly after a homophobic attack (involving physical assault) on a gay man in Northern Ireland, she made comments on the BBC Radio Ulster's Stephen Nolan Show offering to recommend homosexuals to psychiatric counselling. While condemning the attack, she claimed that homosexuality was an "abomination" and it made her feel "sick" and "nauseous", and offered to refer homosexuals to a psychiatrist she knew. In a subsequent interview Mrs Robinson defended her views and denied prejudice against LGBT people, saying that "just as a murderer can be redeemed by the blood of Christ, so can a homosexual.... If anyone takes issue, they're taking issue with the word of God".
Robinson again repeated her view in the Northern Ireland Assembly on 30 June 2008 when questioned by Health Minister Michael McGimpsey in a discussion about "LGBT Groups: Mental-Health Needs". Speaking in a Northern Ireland Grand Committee session on Risk Assessment and Management of Sex Offenders, she said: "There can be no viler act, apart from homosexuality and sodomy, than sexually abusing innocent children"
Iris Robinson 2010
From THE BBC:
The lover of DUP MP Iris Robinson was aged 19 at the time of their affair, the BBC can reveal. She was 59.
Kirk McCambley is now 21. He is the proprietor of the Lock Keepers Inn, a cafe on the banks of the river Lagan in south Belfast.
Mrs Robinson said she had encouraged friends to invest in Mr McCambley's business. Castlereagh Borough Council, on which Mrs Robinson sits, built the visitors centre which houses the cafe.
Further revelations about Mrs Robinson's financial dealings are appearing in a BBC Northern Ireland programme.
COMMENT:
I'm shocked, I tell you.
What an abomination!!!
From WIKIPEDIA:
I
n June 2008, shortly after a homophobic attack (involving physical assault) on a gay man in Northern Ireland, she made comments on the BBC Radio Ulster's Stephen Nolan Show offering to recommend homosexuals to psychiatric counselling. While condemning the attack, she claimed that homosexuality was an "abomination" and it made her feel "sick" and "nauseous", and offered to refer homosexuals to a psychiatrist she knew. In a subsequent interview Mrs Robinson defended her views and denied prejudice against LGBT people, saying that "just as a murderer can be redeemed by the blood of Christ, so can a homosexual.... If anyone takes issue, they're taking issue with the word of God".Robinson again repeated her view in the Northern Ireland Assembly on 30 June 2008 when questioned by Health Minister Michael McGimpsey in a discussion about "LGBT Groups: Mental-Health Needs". Speaking in a Northern Ireland Grand Committee session on Risk Assessment and Management of Sex Offenders, she said: "There can be no viler act, apart from homosexuality and sodomy, than sexually abusing innocent children"
Iris Robinson 2010
From THE BBC:
The lover of DUP MP Iris Robinson was aged 19 at the time of their affair, the BBC can reveal. She was 59.
Kirk McCambley is now 21. He is the proprietor of the Lock Keepers Inn, a cafe on the banks of the river Lagan in south Belfast. Mrs Robinson said she had encouraged friends to invest in Mr McCambley's business. Castlereagh Borough Council, on which Mrs Robinson sits, built the visitors centre which houses the cafe.
Further revelations about Mrs Robinson's financial dealings are appearing in a BBC Northern Ireland programme.
COMMENT:
I'm shocked, I tell you.
What an abomination!!!
NON-TAXABLE POLITICIANS
From EWTN:
Devoting his diocesan newspaper column to the topic of excommunication, Bishop Robert Vasa of Baker (Oregon) writes that publicly confronting wayward Catholic politicians is an act of charity not only towards politicians but also towards the faithful who are scandalized.
“Allowing error, publicly expressed, to stand without comment or contradiction is discouraging. When that moral error is espoused publicly by a Catholic who, by the likewise public and external act of receiving Holy Communion, appears to be in ‘good standing’ then the faithful are doubly confused and doubly discouraged. In that case, the error is certainly not refuted. Furthermore, the impression is given that the error is positively condoned by the bishop and the Church. This is very dis-couraging to the faithful. In such a case, private ‘dialogue’ is certainly appropriate but a public statement is also needed. In extreme cases, excommunication may be deemed necessary. Failing to name error because of some kind of fear of offending the person in error is neither compassion nor charity. Confronting or challenging the error or evil of another is never easy yet it must be done. The Lord has called bishops to be shepherds. That shepherding entails both leading and protecting. In an era when error runs rampant and false teachings abound, the voice of the Holy Father* rings clear and true. The teachings of the Church are well documented and consistent. Bishops and the pastors who serve in their Dioceses have an obligation both to lead their people to the truth and protect them from error.”
* The term "Holy Father" refers to the undemocratically appointed head of Vatican - a country in Southern Europe. Just imagine how the above statement would go down in the USA if, in stead of Holy Father, it said "Ayatollah" or President Imadinnerjacket of Iran.
Devoting his diocesan newspaper column to the topic of excommunication, Bishop Robert Vasa of Baker (Oregon) writes that publicly confronting wayward Catholic politicians is an act of charity not only towards politicians but also towards the faithful who are scandalized.
“Allowing error, publicly expressed, to stand without comment or contradiction is discouraging. When that moral error is espoused publicly by a Catholic who, by the likewise public and external act of receiving Holy Communion, appears to be in ‘good standing’ then the faithful are doubly confused and doubly discouraged. In that case, the error is certainly not refuted. Furthermore, the impression is given that the error is positively condoned by the bishop and the Church. This is very dis-couraging to the faithful. In such a case, private ‘dialogue’ is certainly appropriate but a public statement is also needed. In extreme cases, excommunication may be deemed necessary. Failing to name error because of some kind of fear of offending the person in error is neither compassion nor charity. Confronting or challenging the error or evil of another is never easy yet it must be done. The Lord has called bishops to be shepherds. That shepherding entails both leading and protecting. In an era when error runs rampant and false teachings abound, the voice of the Holy Father* rings clear and true. The teachings of the Church are well documented and consistent. Bishops and the pastors who serve in their Dioceses have an obligation both to lead their people to the truth and protect them from error.”
* The term "Holy Father" refers to the undemocratically appointed head of Vatican - a country in Southern Europe. Just imagine how the above statement would go down in the USA if, in stead of Holy Father, it said "Ayatollah" or President Imadinnerjacket of Iran.
HOW TO RECOGNISE YOUR ENEMY
From THE TIMES:
The General Synod will debate a private member’s motion next month calling for the Church of England to declare itself “in communion” with the Anglican Church in North America, formed in opposition to the pro-gay liberals in the official Anglican body in North America. The synod, dominated by evangelicals, could pass the motion by a 50 per cent majority, adding to the pressure on the primates and bishops to recognise the new church.
The motion, put down by Lorna Ashworth (photo left), an evangelical from the Chichester diocese, comes after The Episcopal Church in the US elected a lesbian priest, Mary Glasspool, to be a suffragan bishop in the Los Angeles diocese.
Bishop Gregory, one of the architects of the new Anglican Convenant, a new unity document now in its fourth draft, said: “We have succeeded in getting all the primates round the table at primates’ meetings so far,” he said. “I don’t think that would happen again if The Episcopal Church confirms the election of Mary Glasspool.”
The consecration of Canon Glasspool as a bishop would signal that The Episcopal Church (TEC) was not willing to sign up to the covenant.
COMMENT: As you all know, I am always ready to help out with the democratic process, so I have produced a handy leaflet that will be given to every member of synod next month to help them in their task.
The General Synod will debate a private member’s motion next month calling for the Church of England to declare itself “in communion” with the Anglican Church in North America, formed in opposition to the pro-gay liberals in the official Anglican body in North America. The synod, dominated by evangelicals, could pass the motion by a 50 per cent majority, adding to the pressure on the primates and bishops to recognise the new church.
The motion, put down by Lorna Ashworth (photo left), an evangelical from the Chichester diocese, comes after The Episcopal Church in the US elected a lesbian priest, Mary Glasspool, to be a suffragan bishop in the Los Angeles diocese.Bishop Gregory, one of the architects of the new Anglican Convenant, a new unity document now in its fourth draft, said: “We have succeeded in getting all the primates round the table at primates’ meetings so far,” he said. “I don’t think that would happen again if The Episcopal Church confirms the election of Mary Glasspool.”
The consecration of Canon Glasspool as a bishop would signal that The Episcopal Church (TEC) was not willing to sign up to the covenant.
COMMENT: As you all know, I am always ready to help out with the democratic process, so I have produced a handy leaflet that will be given to every member of synod next month to help them in their task.
I SEE NO SHITS!
From the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds to The Times:
Sir, We reject strongly the assertion that there is a “culture of bullying” in the Church of England (“‘Bullied’ clergy turn to trade union for protection”, Jan 5). We take allegations of bullying very seriously. Even one case matters because it is one too many. Our experience tells us that bullying is rare within the Church, (so Anne Atkins and all the rest of us who say we see it very regularly are obviously lying) but, as in any human organisation, it can happen. For this reason, the Church has published and distributed guidance on preventing bullying and harassment, developed in consultation with external experts, including Unite. Parishes can use the guidance to stimulate both discussion and action to confront the issue.
The Church has very recently made new legislation to give clergy greater security and similar rights to employees while preserving their historic officeholder status. This gives flexibility to clergy to develop their ministry in different ways as an expression of their individual calling. The law will come into force in 2011.
The Right Rev John Packer
Bishop of Ripon and Leeds
Chairman of the Deployment, Remuneration, and Terms of Service Committee, The Archbishops’ Council
From the Bishop of Lichfield to his diocese:
It would be wrong to comment on a specific case which will be the subject of a court hearing but the programme suggested that bullying was not unusual in the Church of England.
I’m not so sure. Bullying comes potentially from three directions: the parish, the priest and the Bishop or his officers. I think that my twenty-one years parochial experience is pretty typical in that I always knew myself to be supported by the overwhelming number of my parishioners and could always look for support from my Rural Deans, Archdeacons and Bishops. But I have come across cases (very few but very painful for those on the receiving end) of priests who have bullied congregations, and of priests who have been bullied by congregations. I have no personal knowledge of bullying bishops or archdeacons but doubtless they exist.
The programme also included stories of clergy going to visit their bishop for what they assumed was a pastoral chat but turned out to be the sack. I have never sacked a priest and probably wouldn’t be able to if I tried unless he/she had been found guilty of a criminal offence or conduct unbecoming of a clerk in holy orders. Unemployment tribunals obviously assume that we clergy are employees of a big firm where the Archbishop of Canterbury is the managing director but where clergy don’t have the usual safeguards that employees have. In this diocese we are committed to giving clergy all the benefits of being employees while still holding their privileged place in law as office-holders. Clergy often say that they value their legal independence and compare themselves favourably with those free-church ministers who can be sacked by their congregations.
I would encourage any clergy or ministers who feel they are being bullied to seek help either from me or, in the first instance, their Area Bishop.
Thank goodness, for BISHOP ALAN (although even he starts off by saying things are worse elsewhere - not a very good opening statement in a pastoral situation):
Bullying behaviour goes on, of course, in all working contexts, including the Church — in my experience less so in the Church than in other contexts in which I’ve worked, education and prisons, but any incidence is shameful and wrong.
Whether it’s laypeople bullying clergy or clergy bullying clergy or clergy bullying laypeople, any whiff of bullying needs to be explored and discussed, preferably with area dean or bishop's staff, or someone, fully and accurately as early as possible.
Whoever is allegedly bullying whom, the best response is early awareness. The most problematic cases (of which there is only a very tiny number) are usually situations that have stewed for ages. early investigation shows up anomalies for what they are, and protects everyone. If bullying is not happening, it can be excluded, and if it is, it can be exposed for what it is. Like domestic violence, the key thing is to break the cycle producing it as soon as possible.
The involvement of Rachael Maskell’s union, Unite, has always, in my limited experience of it, been extremely helpful. A good union rep can normalise the whole situation by setting the various anecdotes around it in a broader context, whilst ensuring that their member is well protected. Rachael is absolutely right about the key role of law in protecting laypeople and clergy — sometimes people speak of ecclesiastical law as an anomalous by-product of establishment designed to annoy free spirits. It is actually their baseline protection, and everyone else’s — a key part of the infrastructure.
The successful extension of section 23 rights to all C of E clergy by Common Tenure, a legislative job that began almost 10 years ago and goes live at the beginning of 2011, is absolutely necessary. I have a particular interest, formally, in the implementation group for this change in this diocese, and we all have a part to play. Stories like this demonstrate to any who might have wondered about it, why this piece of work, which has been going on over almost 10 years, is so important to complete effectively. I strongly recommend all clergy to take up the option of common tenure when they’re offered it later this year. Even if they don’t think they need it, the universal takeup of the protection it offers is good for the culture of the whole Church.
When Common Tenure is implemented, this time next year, more legislation could be desirable. I don't think anyone will actually know until the new system has been operating for long enough to assess its impact. In the meanwhile, unions (who have had a battering themselves in the past thirty years) need to work hard to recruit in all sectors, and I support them in doing this.
Guess what? Bishop Alan is only an area bishop and how he managed to get that far up the greasy pole with such integrity is beyond my ken. His is the sort of real sympathy and practical initiative that ordinary, parish clergy are crying out for. And he's not stupid. He's realised that if you don't patronise people and if you show that you are at least trying to understand their concerns, they will love you and follow you into the gates of hell itself when you are made Archbishop.
Sir, We reject strongly the assertion that there is a “culture of bullying” in the Church of England (“‘Bullied’ clergy turn to trade union for protection”, Jan 5). We take allegations of bullying very seriously. Even one case matters because it is one too many. Our experience tells us that bullying is rare within the Church, (so Anne Atkins and all the rest of us who say we see it very regularly are obviously lying) but, as in any human organisation, it can happen. For this reason, the Church has published and distributed guidance on preventing bullying and harassment, developed in consultation with external experts, including Unite. Parishes can use the guidance to stimulate both discussion and action to confront the issue.
The Church has very recently made new legislation to give clergy greater security and similar rights to employees while preserving their historic officeholder status. This gives flexibility to clergy to develop their ministry in different ways as an expression of their individual calling. The law will come into force in 2011.
The Right Rev John Packer
Bishop of Ripon and Leeds
Chairman of the Deployment, Remuneration, and Terms of Service Committee, The Archbishops’ Council
From the Bishop of Lichfield to his diocese:
It would be wrong to comment on a specific case which will be the subject of a court hearing but the programme suggested that bullying was not unusual in the Church of England.
I’m not so sure. Bullying comes potentially from three directions: the parish, the priest and the Bishop or his officers. I think that my twenty-one years parochial experience is pretty typical in that I always knew myself to be supported by the overwhelming number of my parishioners and could always look for support from my Rural Deans, Archdeacons and Bishops. But I have come across cases (very few but very painful for those on the receiving end) of priests who have bullied congregations, and of priests who have been bullied by congregations. I have no personal knowledge of bullying bishops or archdeacons but doubtless they exist.
The programme also included stories of clergy going to visit their bishop for what they assumed was a pastoral chat but turned out to be the sack. I have never sacked a priest and probably wouldn’t be able to if I tried unless he/she had been found guilty of a criminal offence or conduct unbecoming of a clerk in holy orders. Unemployment tribunals obviously assume that we clergy are employees of a big firm where the Archbishop of Canterbury is the managing director but where clergy don’t have the usual safeguards that employees have. In this diocese we are committed to giving clergy all the benefits of being employees while still holding their privileged place in law as office-holders. Clergy often say that they value their legal independence and compare themselves favourably with those free-church ministers who can be sacked by their congregations.
I would encourage any clergy or ministers who feel they are being bullied to seek help either from me or, in the first instance, their Area Bishop.
Thank goodness, for BISHOP ALAN (although even he starts off by saying things are worse elsewhere - not a very good opening statement in a pastoral situation):
Bullying behaviour goes on, of course, in all working contexts, including the Church — in my experience less so in the Church than in other contexts in which I’ve worked, education and prisons, but any incidence is shameful and wrong.
Whether it’s laypeople bullying clergy or clergy bullying clergy or clergy bullying laypeople, any whiff of bullying needs to be explored and discussed, preferably with area dean or bishop's staff, or someone, fully and accurately as early as possible.
Whoever is allegedly bullying whom, the best response is early awareness. The most problematic cases (of which there is only a very tiny number) are usually situations that have stewed for ages. early investigation shows up anomalies for what they are, and protects everyone. If bullying is not happening, it can be excluded, and if it is, it can be exposed for what it is. Like domestic violence, the key thing is to break the cycle producing it as soon as possible.
The involvement of Rachael Maskell’s union, Unite, has always, in my limited experience of it, been extremely helpful. A good union rep can normalise the whole situation by setting the various anecdotes around it in a broader context, whilst ensuring that their member is well protected. Rachael is absolutely right about the key role of law in protecting laypeople and clergy — sometimes people speak of ecclesiastical law as an anomalous by-product of establishment designed to annoy free spirits. It is actually their baseline protection, and everyone else’s — a key part of the infrastructure.
The successful extension of section 23 rights to all C of E clergy by Common Tenure, a legislative job that began almost 10 years ago and goes live at the beginning of 2011, is absolutely necessary. I have a particular interest, formally, in the implementation group for this change in this diocese, and we all have a part to play. Stories like this demonstrate to any who might have wondered about it, why this piece of work, which has been going on over almost 10 years, is so important to complete effectively. I strongly recommend all clergy to take up the option of common tenure when they’re offered it later this year. Even if they don’t think they need it, the universal takeup of the protection it offers is good for the culture of the whole Church.
When Common Tenure is implemented, this time next year, more legislation could be desirable. I don't think anyone will actually know until the new system has been operating for long enough to assess its impact. In the meanwhile, unions (who have had a battering themselves in the past thirty years) need to work hard to recruit in all sectors, and I support them in doing this.
Guess what? Bishop Alan is only an area bishop and how he managed to get that far up the greasy pole with such integrity is beyond my ken. His is the sort of real sympathy and practical initiative that ordinary, parish clergy are crying out for. And he's not stupid. He's realised that if you don't patronise people and if you show that you are at least trying to understand their concerns, they will love you and follow you into the gates of hell itself when you are made Archbishop.
OLD SCHOOL R.I.P.
The theologian and philosopher, Mary Daly has died, aged 81. THE GUARDIAN has an obit. that is brief and reasonably accurate and I'm sure there are weightier tributes around the media this week.
It must say something about the liberal indoctrination of my generation that although I know the term for a woman hater (I should do, I'm accused of being one every time I say something negative about a woman who isn't a Republican and when I crack a joke about them that even sniffs of containing a stereotype), I do not know the term for a man hater. Whatever, Mary Daly was one and this created her genius and all her flaws.
I can see how very important she was from a Hegelian point of view. When she hit the headlines in 1968 her uncompromising attack on all things male was absolutely necessary. But, as the feminist thinkers who followed her started to put forward more subtle critiques of mankind and humankind, her refusal to see the male ego's place in relation to women in anything but black and white terms (where men were always painted black) made her an anachronism within 10 years of her initial fame. One thing I have never been able to see the point of is women only groups and Daly went all the way to resigning her professorship on her insistence that no men should be allowed in her classroom. This led to her being a counsellor rather than an educator.
At the end of the day Mary Daly identified the evils of men and then proceeded to invent a female mirror image of them. In their own way her female gods were as exclusive and cruel as the male gods she proclaimed had usurped them.
However, it is extremely possible that without Mary Daly all the women who visit this blog to accuse me of misogyny would never do so. They would be too busy hoovering the lounge so it was nice and tidy for their husband when he came home from work.
So, well done, Mary. Someone had to do it. And you took up that challenge with integrity and a life long commitment that is rarely seen nowadays in our commercial sector and catholic Church sponsored halls of learning.
THE PRAYER LIST
From Susan:
Mad One -- Please ask for prayers for Ginnie, my Deacon, and for her husband, Don, who may well be finally dying of lymphoma after they BOTH have fought it for many years. Please, God -- let them not be afraid.
***
Posted by Mardé at SEEV'S PLACE (yesterday):
OK, today is the day Dr. Cassidy removes the cataract from my right eye. We’ll be heading down to Portland to the Eyecare Medical Group around Noon.
Then, later that day...
Yup, I’ve got one good eye now, the left one. Here it is 5:25pm and my right eye is blurry as hell. But that’s to be expected I’m told. I’ll be seeing Dr. Cassidy again in the morning (9:30am) for his further inspection and instructions for the future.
The whole procedure today was fairly painless. The only pesty thing was the inserting of the needle for the I-V in my hand. But whatever medication he gave me was definitely appreciated by me. I was quite relaxed during the whole time that Dr. Cassidy was operating, about ten minutes I guess.
***
Posted by The Cajun at ON TRANSMIGRATION:
I got some good news at the restaurant yesterday. They're really doing their best to help me out. Tomorrow I begin working 5 lunch shifts weekly - with two weekdays off - for the first quarter of the year. That's fine with me. I can get more errands run on weekdays than on weekends when everyone else is trying to do the same. Working Saturday and Sunday will be another challenge and hopefully will boost my skills at running the front of the house more smoothly.
The not-so-good news is that this new schedule offers only about 30 hours a week (each shift is around 6 hours), not enough to pay the rent. So I've got to figure out something else to make the extra cash for things like, oh you know, food, bills, fuel for the car, laundry and such. I can't run a deficit for more than a month or two.
It's hard to believe the twists and turns, ups and downs my life has gone through in the last 4 years. I used to view my life as more of a Ferris Wheel or Carousel ride - steady going, predictable, familiar - but these past years have been more of a Roller Coaster ride. Unpredictable, scary, sometimes thrilling, other times upsetting.
Well, something will turn up and as long as my health holds up, I'll get through this phase, too. Eventually.
And so it goes.
The Cajun lives in Delaware.
***
Posted by Mark Brunson at
ENOUGH ABOUT ME: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY:
Please pray for us in the South.
This arctic blast we're getting has not really given us record-setting lows, but it has been sustained for a much longer period than we're prepared to deal with. This probably doesn't occur to folks living much farther north, but it is a concern for us. Our houses (and our bodies) aren't built for sustained freezing, but for brief periods of real cold, followed by a much longer period above freezing! As a result, those with central heat are heating themselves into penury and those of us without are struggling to maintain a survivable temperature.
Worst of all are those - and they still exist - who are prepared neither physically nor financially, and have no home or no heat or both. The homeless outreach shelters will be overflowing, no doubt.
Please pray.
***
Posted by Paul at BYZIGENOUS BUDDHAPALIAN:
I ask your prayers for Steve who is suddenly unemployed. It is a shock, always. So we pray for him and all who are looking for work, and they are legion. This includes our friends David and JimB and Ralph.
I also ask your prayers for someone special going through a rough patch.
Mad One -- Please ask for prayers for Ginnie, my Deacon, and for her husband, Don, who may well be finally dying of lymphoma after they BOTH have fought it for many years. Please, God -- let them not be afraid.
***
Posted by Mardé at SEEV'S PLACE (yesterday):
OK, today is the day Dr. Cassidy removes the cataract from my right eye. We’ll be heading down to Portland to the Eyecare Medical Group around Noon.
Then, later that day...
Yup, I’ve got one good eye now, the left one. Here it is 5:25pm and my right eye is blurry as hell. But that’s to be expected I’m told. I’ll be seeing Dr. Cassidy again in the morning (9:30am) for his further inspection and instructions for the future.
The whole procedure today was fairly painless. The only pesty thing was the inserting of the needle for the I-V in my hand. But whatever medication he gave me was definitely appreciated by me. I was quite relaxed during the whole time that Dr. Cassidy was operating, about ten minutes I guess.
***
Posted by The Cajun at ON TRANSMIGRATION:
I got some good news at the restaurant yesterday. They're really doing their best to help me out. Tomorrow I begin working 5 lunch shifts weekly - with two weekdays off - for the first quarter of the year. That's fine with me. I can get more errands run on weekdays than on weekends when everyone else is trying to do the same. Working Saturday and Sunday will be another challenge and hopefully will boost my skills at running the front of the house more smoothly.
The not-so-good news is that this new schedule offers only about 30 hours a week (each shift is around 6 hours), not enough to pay the rent. So I've got to figure out something else to make the extra cash for things like, oh you know, food, bills, fuel for the car, laundry and such. I can't run a deficit for more than a month or two.
It's hard to believe the twists and turns, ups and downs my life has gone through in the last 4 years. I used to view my life as more of a Ferris Wheel or Carousel ride - steady going, predictable, familiar - but these past years have been more of a Roller Coaster ride. Unpredictable, scary, sometimes thrilling, other times upsetting.
Well, something will turn up and as long as my health holds up, I'll get through this phase, too. Eventually.
And so it goes.
The Cajun lives in Delaware.
***
Posted by Mark Brunson at
ENOUGH ABOUT ME: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY:
Please pray for us in the South.
This arctic blast we're getting has not really given us record-setting lows, but it has been sustained for a much longer period than we're prepared to deal with. This probably doesn't occur to folks living much farther north, but it is a concern for us. Our houses (and our bodies) aren't built for sustained freezing, but for brief periods of real cold, followed by a much longer period above freezing! As a result, those with central heat are heating themselves into penury and those of us without are struggling to maintain a survivable temperature.
Worst of all are those - and they still exist - who are prepared neither physically nor financially, and have no home or no heat or both. The homeless outreach shelters will be overflowing, no doubt.
Please pray.
***
Posted by Paul at BYZIGENOUS BUDDHAPALIAN:
I ask your prayers for Steve who is suddenly unemployed. It is a shock, always. So we pray for him and all who are looking for work, and they are legion. This includes our friends David and JimB and Ralph.
I also ask your prayers for someone special going through a rough patch.
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
THE MIDNIGHT JUKEBOX
I'm not the world's most patriotic person. But
I'm patriotic enough to believe, without a single
reservation, that Elgar wrote the greatest cello
concerto of all time. The first movement is
sublime and the whole thing is probably only
surpassed by Beethoven's violin concerto in my
list of favourite classical works. And for years,
again as a good Brit, I have honestly regarded
Jacqueline and Sir John's EMI recording as
unsurpassed.
But yesterday I bought a version by THIS young
Hungarian and I was as knocked sideways by his
performance as I was by Du Pre's seminal
recording the first time I heard it. I've listened
to it, all the way through, three times already.
I think it's bloomin' brilliant.
The CD is officially released on 11th. January.
Here's the first movement. Enjoy.
FEELGOOD STORY OF THE DAY
From LAKE WYLIE PILOT:
Mt. Harmony, a church founded in 1876, is now home to more than one congregation. One fills a church roll with about 125 names, and is predominately African-American Methodists. The other includes about 35 guests, predominately older, white Episcopalians.
“We were glad to be able to help the Episcopal church,” said Mt. Harmony pastor Marvin L. Caldwell. “They wanted to stay in the area. We know what it is to have a group of people who need a place to worship.”
The Episcopal congregation began 25 years ago but in November, the small group was required to move. The members checked “every church, funeral home, assisted living facility and day care center” on S.C. 49 in Lake Wylie for a place to hold service. But there were always concerns, like the church seemingly on board with hosting the group until the issue of wine – used in the Holy Eucharist weekly – created a “deal breaker.”
But despite different denominations, worship styles and backgrounds, the leadership at Mt. Harmony sees no reason not to allow a few dozen Episcopalians the use of their building.
“It's something good for the community,” said Anthony Thomason, chairman of trustees at Mt. Harmony. “I think it shows people in this area and even into Charlotte that there are big things happening down here.”
The congregations pride themselves on easily overcoming what both groups say they've heard - that Sunday mornings may be the most segregated times left in this country, with worship preferences often leading to congregations lacking ethnic diversity. But in Clover, two varied congregations say the only race here on Sunday mornings is the occasional scramble to reset the place for the later service.
Caldwell, who mentors a minister at a predominately white Methodist church in Lake Wylie, smiles at the thought of how comfortably the two congregations mesh. Originally built from a community of “black sharecroppers all along Ridge Road,” he smiles at the thought of the church's original congregation seeing the new partnership.
“They wouldn't have believed it,” Caldwell said.
COMMENT: What a great story of bog standard people getting together and sorting stuff out. For their down to earth common sense Mt. Harmony Church is our...
BRICK OF THE DAY
Mt. Harmony, a church founded in 1876, is now home to more than one congregation. One fills a church roll with about 125 names, and is predominately African-American Methodists. The other includes about 35 guests, predominately older, white Episcopalians.
“We were glad to be able to help the Episcopal church,” said Mt. Harmony pastor Marvin L. Caldwell. “They wanted to stay in the area. We know what it is to have a group of people who need a place to worship.”
The Episcopal congregation began 25 years ago but in November, the small group was required to move. The members checked “every church, funeral home, assisted living facility and day care center” on S.C. 49 in Lake Wylie for a place to hold service. But there were always concerns, like the church seemingly on board with hosting the group until the issue of wine – used in the Holy Eucharist weekly – created a “deal breaker.”
But despite different denominations, worship styles and backgrounds, the leadership at Mt. Harmony sees no reason not to allow a few dozen Episcopalians the use of their building.
“It's something good for the community,” said Anthony Thomason, chairman of trustees at Mt. Harmony. “I think it shows people in this area and even into Charlotte that there are big things happening down here.”
The congregations pride themselves on easily overcoming what both groups say they've heard - that Sunday mornings may be the most segregated times left in this country, with worship preferences often leading to congregations lacking ethnic diversity. But in Clover, two varied congregations say the only race here on Sunday mornings is the occasional scramble to reset the place for the later service.
Caldwell, who mentors a minister at a predominately white Methodist church in Lake Wylie, smiles at the thought of how comfortably the two congregations mesh. Originally built from a community of “black sharecroppers all along Ridge Road,” he smiles at the thought of the church's original congregation seeing the new partnership.
“They wouldn't have believed it,” Caldwell said.
COMMENT: What a great story of bog standard people getting together and sorting stuff out. For their down to earth common sense Mt. Harmony Church is our...
BRICK OF THE DAY
POSTSCRIPT: I just love the navigation bar at the top of Lake Wylie Pilot website:
Cue "Duelling Banjoes!"
WHERE DOES HE FIND THEM?
Okay, I will award you 500 days off purgatory if you
manage to get all the way through this record without
cheating. Not only that, but I will throw in $20 of my
own money towards drinks at your wake. And may
the gods at the top of the banyan tree have mercy
on your soul, you brave but foolish hero.
THE DVANT DISCO
I have chosen the title track off the above album for your
listening pleasure today. It's a bit retro, which is probably
why I like it so much. It's similar to the type of jazz that was
popular with the hip young things of England between,
about, 1975 and 1985. It has harder edges, more virtuosity
and a lot more levels to it than the smooth jazz that is so
popular nowadays. Of course, if you think fusion is jazz
heresy then you won't like it one bit. But that's your loss.
You should be more broadminded.
MYSPACE
AT LONG LAST: MISTREATMENT OF
PARISH CLERGY IN ENGLAND AND WALES
IS NO LONGER A TABOO SUBJECT
When I started OCICBW..., nearly four years ago, my aim was to make it a place English Christians with mental health issues could talk to each other and exchange information. I believed this to be necessary as, through my own lengthy and severe bout of mental illness five years previously, I had discovered that there was massive bigotry towards and misinformation about the mentally ill at all levels of the church but especially, and most destructively, at the top.
My blog did not remain so narrowly defined for long as it became apparent to me that there were many other groups of people who were marginalised by the churches. Because my illness had already rendered me worth little to my church I was able to allow my blog to become a place for all these people to congregate knowing they would, at least, be understood and valued. It wasn't bravery or even stupidity on my part - I simply had nothing much to lose.
Over the years I have campaigned for the better treatment of all Christians, lay and clerical, by church authorities throughout the world. But, as it is the group with which I have the most empathy, I have been particularly interested in the plight of Anglican parish clergy in England and Wales (Scotland is a different world). There were few of us addressing this issue because it was a taboo subject in the two churches. There is a macho, "I can cope with anything" attitude in the churches and if a minister complains about being bullied, not being able to cope with the workload or develops mental health problems, they will often be regarded as weak and a troublemaker (boat rocker) by those in authority over them. Very often a minister will lose their job and career rather than being helped by those who could actually help them. Most clergy chose to keep quiet and put up with all sorts of crap rather than risk the stigma attached to being less than superhuman in todays Church of England and Church in Wales.
But, hopefully, things are now changing. There are strong signs that the union, UNITE, has managed to break the taboo by getting the media to take up the issue. And, my goodness, the media certainly has recently and big time. I have been posting some of the recent articles published in the press, all of which have treated this matter with a seriousness not always there when the media talk about "vicars."
I think it was THE TIMES that broke this story first (well, after me, of course) and they are continuing to put pressure on the church hierarchy to accept that this problem exists by publishing accounts of abuse suffered by parish clergy. The latest, "There is no one to fight for us" is by celebrity vicar's wife, Anne Atkins (but don't be put off by that - it is a very good article, in deed).
After all, (my husband, a Church of England priest) had given up all that graduates took for granted: decent income, chance of promotion and career structure, mortgage and home for his family, public recognition, financial security. All because he believed something else to be more important. If Jesus is who He claimed to be, His message is of eternal significance. How can you grasp the middle-class trappings for yourself if you could be saving souls?
I confess that we did expect more intelligent Christians to realise that the decision had been taken selflessly. We anticipated appreciation, if nothing else.
Instead, I’ve noticed an increasingly ignorant and boorish contempt towards the clergy — even from those within the Church. Even (perhaps particularly) from the Church hierarchy. I wish I could say that I was surprised to hear the union Unite call earlier this week for employment rights for the clergy. I long to say that I struggled to believe the appalling details recently revealed about the Rev Mark Sharpe: how he was hounded by his parishioners and ignored by his two pastors, his Diocesan and his Suffregan Bishops, both of whom refused to meet him for two years. What do these men think they are appointed to do? What could possibly be more important than tending their flock?
Alas, it has become all too predictably familiar. The truth is that if you’d asked me, ten or 20 years ago, to write about the stress on clergy families I would have said, “Stress? What stress?”. Yes, honestly. Despite the anecdotal evidence all around me that clergy suffer proportionately more breakdowns, ME, exhaustion and ill health than other professionals (and even more divorce than their Christian lay friends), I still thought that there was lots to recommend working for the C of E.
My view is very different now. Partly because we ourselves have been at the sharp end of a system in which employees have scanty legal rights, and partly because the employment of clergy has become very much worse all round.
Since my grandfather was a clergyman a hundred years ago, the role has changed from being a low-stress and high-status one, to low status and high stress... Livings are being phased out, so clergy can be sacked on a whim. There is a compulsory retirement age, with all the implications for those who own no property. And Bishops have become pen-pushing bureaucrats who routinely ignore pastoral problems. Sometimes they behave more like bullies than pastors.
In recent years I have seen more and more to disturb me. Clergy isolated, abused, bullied and abandoned. Nobody to turn to and no one to fight for them. “Working for God” when they seek protection; but accountable to man when the budget is squeezed. They exist on a pittance, with none of the old perks — humble though these were.
And when things go wrong, they find themselves in an impossible bind. If a member of the clergy complains — or, Heaven forbid, considers legal action — he or she will never work again. There is talk among those in the know of a so-called Lambeth List, on which blacklisted names (some think up to 3,000) are secreted.
Read the rest of this excellent and, believe me, very accurate article at THE TIMES.
The redemption of this awful situation does not lie with the parish clergy, the bishops and archdeacons, the media or UNITE. It is up to the laity to do something about it. They need to change their attitude towards the clergy who serve them and they need to change their attitude towards their giving (which is pitifully low compared to much of the rest of the Communion) as our lack of finances is making it easier for the clergy to be bullied. Or they need to ditch the clergy completely. What they have no right to do under the terms of Christ's teachings is to carry on selfishly taking from their clergy until they break and then discarding them like a worn out vacuum cleaner.
My blog did not remain so narrowly defined for long as it became apparent to me that there were many other groups of people who were marginalised by the churches. Because my illness had already rendered me worth little to my church I was able to allow my blog to become a place for all these people to congregate knowing they would, at least, be understood and valued. It wasn't bravery or even stupidity on my part - I simply had nothing much to lose.
Over the years I have campaigned for the better treatment of all Christians, lay and clerical, by church authorities throughout the world. But, as it is the group with which I have the most empathy, I have been particularly interested in the plight of Anglican parish clergy in England and Wales (Scotland is a different world). There were few of us addressing this issue because it was a taboo subject in the two churches. There is a macho, "I can cope with anything" attitude in the churches and if a minister complains about being bullied, not being able to cope with the workload or develops mental health problems, they will often be regarded as weak and a troublemaker (boat rocker) by those in authority over them. Very often a minister will lose their job and career rather than being helped by those who could actually help them. Most clergy chose to keep quiet and put up with all sorts of crap rather than risk the stigma attached to being less than superhuman in todays Church of England and Church in Wales.
But, hopefully, things are now changing. There are strong signs that the union, UNITE, has managed to break the taboo by getting the media to take up the issue. And, my goodness, the media certainly has recently and big time. I have been posting some of the recent articles published in the press, all of which have treated this matter with a seriousness not always there when the media talk about "vicars."
I think it was THE TIMES that broke this story first (well, after me, of course) and they are continuing to put pressure on the church hierarchy to accept that this problem exists by publishing accounts of abuse suffered by parish clergy. The latest, "There is no one to fight for us" is by celebrity vicar's wife, Anne Atkins (but don't be put off by that - it is a very good article, in deed).
After all, (my husband, a Church of England priest) had given up all that graduates took for granted: decent income, chance of promotion and career structure, mortgage and home for his family, public recognition, financial security. All because he believed something else to be more important. If Jesus is who He claimed to be, His message is of eternal significance. How can you grasp the middle-class trappings for yourself if you could be saving souls?
I confess that we did expect more intelligent Christians to realise that the decision had been taken selflessly. We anticipated appreciation, if nothing else.
Instead, I’ve noticed an increasingly ignorant and boorish contempt towards the clergy — even from those within the Church. Even (perhaps particularly) from the Church hierarchy. I wish I could say that I was surprised to hear the union Unite call earlier this week for employment rights for the clergy. I long to say that I struggled to believe the appalling details recently revealed about the Rev Mark Sharpe: how he was hounded by his parishioners and ignored by his two pastors, his Diocesan and his Suffregan Bishops, both of whom refused to meet him for two years. What do these men think they are appointed to do? What could possibly be more important than tending their flock?
Alas, it has become all too predictably familiar. The truth is that if you’d asked me, ten or 20 years ago, to write about the stress on clergy families I would have said, “Stress? What stress?”. Yes, honestly. Despite the anecdotal evidence all around me that clergy suffer proportionately more breakdowns, ME, exhaustion and ill health than other professionals (and even more divorce than their Christian lay friends), I still thought that there was lots to recommend working for the C of E.
My view is very different now. Partly because we ourselves have been at the sharp end of a system in which employees have scanty legal rights, and partly because the employment of clergy has become very much worse all round.
Since my grandfather was a clergyman a hundred years ago, the role has changed from being a low-stress and high-status one, to low status and high stress... Livings are being phased out, so clergy can be sacked on a whim. There is a compulsory retirement age, with all the implications for those who own no property. And Bishops have become pen-pushing bureaucrats who routinely ignore pastoral problems. Sometimes they behave more like bullies than pastors.
In recent years I have seen more and more to disturb me. Clergy isolated, abused, bullied and abandoned. Nobody to turn to and no one to fight for them. “Working for God” when they seek protection; but accountable to man when the budget is squeezed. They exist on a pittance, with none of the old perks — humble though these were.
And when things go wrong, they find themselves in an impossible bind. If a member of the clergy complains — or, Heaven forbid, considers legal action — he or she will never work again. There is talk among those in the know of a so-called Lambeth List, on which blacklisted names (some think up to 3,000) are secreted.
Read the rest of this excellent and, believe me, very accurate article at THE TIMES.
The redemption of this awful situation does not lie with the parish clergy, the bishops and archdeacons, the media or UNITE. It is up to the laity to do something about it. They need to change their attitude towards the clergy who serve them and they need to change their attitude towards their giving (which is pitifully low compared to much of the rest of the Communion) as our lack of finances is making it easier for the clergy to be bullied. Or they need to ditch the clergy completely. What they have no right to do under the terms of Christ's teachings is to carry on selfishly taking from their clergy until they break and then discarding them like a worn out vacuum cleaner.
THE SPITTING JEWS OF JERUSALEM
The practice by some ultra-Orthodox Jews of spitting at priests, nuns and other Christian clergy has been denounced in a statement by the Israeli Embassy to the Holy See. The Jerusalem Post recently quoted Rabbi David Rosen, a veteran of Catholic-Jewish dialogue, who said such incidents of spitting are "a part of life" in Jerusalem and have been occurring for the last 20 years. However, they appear to be limited to Jerusalem.
Israeli authorities have taken these reports so seriously that the Foreign Ministry convened a meeting with municipal officials in Jerusalem and representatives of the ultra-Orthodox Haredi Community. A press release issued by the Israeli Embassy to the Holy See in Rome contained a letter denouncing the harassment of Christian clergy from the Beth Din Tzedek, the tribunal of the Orthodox Jewish Community, which is the highest in Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox community.
"We hereby call upon anyone who has the power to end these shameful incidents through persuasion, to take action as soon as possible to remove these hazards, so that our community may live in peace," the release states.
Full story at THE NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER.
Israeli authorities have taken these reports so seriously that the Foreign Ministry convened a meeting with municipal officials in Jerusalem and representatives of the ultra-Orthodox Haredi Community. A press release issued by the Israeli Embassy to the Holy See in Rome contained a letter denouncing the harassment of Christian clergy from the Beth Din Tzedek, the tribunal of the Orthodox Jewish Community, which is the highest in Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox community.
"We hereby call upon anyone who has the power to end these shameful incidents through persuasion, to take action as soon as possible to remove these hazards, so that our community may live in peace," the release states.
Full story at THE NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER.
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
MADPRIEST'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
"In the beginning was the Word."
If there is no such thing as the secular, perhaps human words must be both accurate and univocal when used to describe the Divine. Perhaps it is our (wilful) ignorance of the full and true meaning of human words that stops them from being useful in our quest to understand the nature of God. For example, perhaps the statement "God is love" is a perfect description of God but we are too fearful and hateful to allow ourselves to accept the meaning of the word "love" even though, and perhaps because, it comes from our own divinely created imagination and creativeness.
So, perhaps, in stead of trying to understand, without words, the God we do not presently see, or see only as through a glass dimly (a futile task), we should seek to understand the full meaning of those words that describe God that are in our very possession.
If there is no such thing as the secular, perhaps human words must be both accurate and univocal when used to describe the Divine. Perhaps it is our (wilful) ignorance of the full and true meaning of human words that stops them from being useful in our quest to understand the nature of God. For example, perhaps the statement "God is love" is a perfect description of God but we are too fearful and hateful to allow ourselves to accept the meaning of the word "love" even though, and perhaps because, it comes from our own divinely created imagination and creativeness.
So, perhaps, in stead of trying to understand, without words, the God we do not presently see, or see only as through a glass dimly (a futile task), we should seek to understand the full meaning of those words that describe God that are in our very possession.
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
Some culturally sensitive music tonight.
A soundtrack for the real Scotland.
(At least, one of the real Scotlands)
BULLYING OF PRIESTS BY PARISHIONERS
REACHES NEW LEVEL OF NASTINESS
From NEXT (Nigeria):
Service was brought to a halt yesterday at the St Paul Anglican Church, Sodubi, Abeokuta when thugs, armed with dangerous weapons, invaded the church because the priest was allegedly being too blunt in his preaching. Some of the words he used were said to have offended some highly placed individuals who attend the church. The offence of the cleric was traced to his sermon on the New Year eve, which a source said was not well received by some church elders. Mr. Ilekoya, at the service, warned political leaders to mend their ways or face the wrath of God. Shortly afterwards, a meeting was held where retaliatory measures were allegedly planned against the priest, to be executed in yesterday's service.
Some of the members of the church are saddened by the ugly development, and expressed their shock at the incident. Some accused the church authority of turning the church into a political theater because of their individual selfish interests. One of them said Mr. Ilekoya would be the fourth cleric of the church that the elders would fight because of the theme of his preaching.
When the ringleader of the thugs, former senator, Femi Okunrounmu, was approached by journalists at the church premises to react on the allegation that he sponsored thugs to disrupt the church service, he was furious.
"How did you get to know what's happening here, who told you and who told you to come," he said. "This is church affairs and not press affairs. I don't want to comment further."
Service was brought to a halt yesterday at the St Paul Anglican Church, Sodubi, Abeokuta when thugs, armed with dangerous weapons, invaded the church because the priest was allegedly being too blunt in his preaching. Some of the words he used were said to have offended some highly placed individuals who attend the church. The offence of the cleric was traced to his sermon on the New Year eve, which a source said was not well received by some church elders. Mr. Ilekoya, at the service, warned political leaders to mend their ways or face the wrath of God. Shortly afterwards, a meeting was held where retaliatory measures were allegedly planned against the priest, to be executed in yesterday's service.
Some of the members of the church are saddened by the ugly development, and expressed their shock at the incident. Some accused the church authority of turning the church into a political theater because of their individual selfish interests. One of them said Mr. Ilekoya would be the fourth cleric of the church that the elders would fight because of the theme of his preaching.
When the ringleader of the thugs, former senator, Femi Okunrounmu, was approached by journalists at the church premises to react on the allegation that he sponsored thugs to disrupt the church service, he was furious.
"How did you get to know what's happening here, who told you and who told you to come," he said. "This is church affairs and not press affairs. I don't want to comment further."
AMERICANS TO GET CHANCE
TO LICK BEHIND NUN'S EARS
The US Postal Service
has recognised Mother
Teresa's humanitarian
work with a stamp, as
part of its 2010 program.
The stamp features a
portrait of Mother Teresa
painted by award-winning
artist Thomas Blackshear II
of Colorado Springs.
NICE LITTLE EARNER TURNS INTO POISON CHALICE FOR "FRIEND" OF FORMER PRIEST
From this side of the Atlantic it would appear that the Americans have the same problem with churches called "Good Shepherd" as we have with churches called "Holy Trinity." I expect the reason is the same. They were usually founded by militant evangelicals who hated the idea of calling their church after a saint because, of course, that would be papist. These churches started off as defining themselves by what they were against and many have continued to do so up until the present day. Of course, they have evolved. Over the years they have discovered lots more things to be against. It's a good time for being a hater in the Anglican Communion.
From SPHERE:
A former Episcopal priest in suburban Philadelphia who lost a legal battle with his bishop has filed a malpractice suit against the attorney who represented him in the case. David Moyer of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Rosemont -- who has spoken out against liberal trends in the Episcopal Church -- was removed from the priesthood in 2002 by Bishop Charles Bennison Jr. In October, a Montgomery County jury ruled that Bennison did not act fraudulently.
Moyer and his church have now filed suit against attorney John Lewis seeking millions in compensation for the costs of the trial and alleged damage to the reputations of the ex-priest and the parish.
Lewis -- a member of Good Shepherd for 10 years who said he considered Moyer "my friend" -- denied the accusations and estimated he had done $700,000 worth of legal work at no charge in Moyer's case against the bishop. Lewis and his law firm are countersuing Moyer and the parish.
From SPHERE:
A former Episcopal priest in suburban Philadelphia who lost a legal battle with his bishop has filed a malpractice suit against the attorney who represented him in the case. David Moyer of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Rosemont -- who has spoken out against liberal trends in the Episcopal Church -- was removed from the priesthood in 2002 by Bishop Charles Bennison Jr. In October, a Montgomery County jury ruled that Bennison did not act fraudulently.
Moyer and his church have now filed suit against attorney John Lewis seeking millions in compensation for the costs of the trial and alleged damage to the reputations of the ex-priest and the parish.
Lewis -- a member of Good Shepherd for 10 years who said he considered Moyer "my friend" -- denied the accusations and estimated he had done $700,000 worth of legal work at no charge in Moyer's case against the bishop. Lewis and his law firm are countersuing Moyer and the parish.
DOG SAVES BOY - COP SHOOTS CAT
I have to admit I felt sorry for the cougar. They are such magnificent animals. I expect if the cat had got the boy the policeman wouldn't have shot it. But as it was a dog the cop
had to do his duty. So, well done officer and well done pooch!
Thanks to Lindy for sending in this story
and demanding I published it.
IS IT A BIRD? IS IT A PLANE?
THE CAPTION COMPETITION
I came across this photo this morning and knew straight away that what it was missing was some creative captioneering by you, my dear readers. Off you go then!
NEW BLOG ADDED TO THE OCICBW... EXPERIENCE
Check out Grandmère Mimi's cinema column at
THE OCICBW... REVIEW.
Then why not submit a review of your own. It can be about anything, from a book to a new dishwasher. Just email your copy in. You won't get paid.
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING
COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
Following on from yesterday's virtuoso triangle playing here is some virtuoso mandolin playing. I think you will find this both more impressive and more enjoyable than yesterday's selection.
Monday, 4 January 2010
THE DEATH OF THE DOCTOR
Yours truly and Mrs MadPriest finally got round to watching the conclusion of the Christmas "Doctor Who" this evening. The episode in which we said goodbye to David Tennant.
There were tears in our eyes as the gorgeous David shapeshifted into some gormless buffoon whose looks will probably appeal to thirteen year old girls but nobody else.
MadPriest: I've just worked out why the last two incarnations of Doctor Who have been so popular to people of all ages.
Mrs MP: Why?
MadPriest: Who chose the actors to play the Doctor, and Captain Jack, and all the other main male characters but is no longer choosing the cast?
Mrs MP: Russell Davies.
MadPriest: And what is Russell Davies?
Mrs MP: A life long Doctor Who fan.
MadPriest: Yes. But what else?
Mrs MP: Gay.
MadPriest: Yes. And there's something about all the men he has cast. They're all.... They're all.... Erm...
Mrs MP: Men other straight men would fancy.
MadPriest: Exactly.
MadPriest muttered something about it not being a sexual thing and got one of those looks from Mrs MadPriest. We both then settled down into a sullen despondency to mourn the end of an era. Goodbye Doctor.
The new producer, Steven Moffat, is well into women. Dammit!
There were tears in our eyes as the gorgeous David shapeshifted into some gormless buffoon whose looks will probably appeal to thirteen year old girls but nobody else.
MadPriest: I've just worked out why the last two incarnations of Doctor Who have been so popular to people of all ages.
Mrs MP: Why?
MadPriest: Who chose the actors to play the Doctor, and Captain Jack, and all the other main male characters but is no longer choosing the cast?
Mrs MP: Russell Davies.
MadPriest: And what is Russell Davies?
Mrs MP: A life long Doctor Who fan.
MadPriest: Yes. But what else?
Mrs MP: Gay.
MadPriest: Yes. And there's something about all the men he has cast. They're all.... They're all.... Erm...
Mrs MP: Men other straight men would fancy.
MadPriest: Exactly.
MadPriest muttered something about it not being a sexual thing and got one of those looks from Mrs MadPriest. We both then settled down into a sullen despondency to mourn the end of an era. Goodbye Doctor.
The new producer, Steven Moffat, is well into women. Dammit!
Oh, dear! They've
sent a boy to do
sent a boy to do
a man's job.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)