On Christmas Day (of all days), the good people of The Episcopal Church of St. Nicholas, Atwater, CA, in the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin, got a letter from the former Episcopal Bishop, John-David Schofield, now self-proclaimed bishop in the Anglican Diocese of the Southern Cone, that could only be described as the ecclesiastical equivalent of coal in one's Christmas stocking.
Read all about it at Fr. Jake's place where there are several articles including personal, eye-witness accounts of John-David's visitation and a copy of his letter to the people of St. Nicholas, which, among other things, instructed them to change all the locks on the church as well as that to the vicar's office.
You can get a full update on the whole, sad story here, as well as a place to write letters of support to the Rev'd Fred Risard, the Vicar of St. Nicholas, and the faithful Episcopalians in the Diocese of San Joaquin, through a group named Remain Episcopal.
I trust the barely audible sound we hear from the corridors of power at 815 is that of letting the powers that be in the Anglican Diocese of the Southern Cone in San Joaquin have just enough rope to hang themselves.
The silence on the Conservative and neo-Orthodox blogs however, is something else, again. Never mind. Just wait for even a note of clarity or direction from 815 and then sit back, fasten your seat belts and put in your asbestos ear plugs. The howls of neo-Orthodox protest are bound to break the sound barrier - but not a whimper about this amazing display of high-octane mean spirit that would make the Grinch even greener with envy.
Methinks there are others, like the Grinch, with hearts two sizes too small.
Being mostly consumed by my dissertation is a joy compared to this latest chapter in "As the Anglican World Turns."
Merry Christmas, indeed!
Maybe they are embarrassed at the actions of Mr. +Grinch? Probably not.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't sound that different from what Bishop Smith did to that church in CT a few years back.
ReplyDeleteExcept, dbw, that the bishop of CT IS the bishop of CT and had every right to do what he did. Unlike the former Episcopal bishop of San Joaquin and now self-declared Anglican Bishop of the Southern Cone.
ReplyDeleteThat sound you hear in the background is the Title IV investigation of JDS.
Title IV? JDS? WTF?
ReplyDeleteAlls fair in love and war and church politics. They're all nasty businesses.