The Diocese of Virginia Protocol for Departing Churches Revisited

http://babybluecafe.blogspot.com/

[BabyBlueOnline] 18 July 2007--This afternoon it occurred to me that - with all this talk of the Virginia Protocol - I wondered how many folks have been able to read it? It's not easy to find, though it is still officially on the Diocese of Virginia website here, but only in pdf format.

I read it again on the train this evening out of Washington. This was the protocol that we followed in good faith in Virginia. The tone of hope and faith and promise are all over the pages - it was an extraordinary achievement, one that brought very different people together after nine months of an intense listening process, a process that was both frank and transparent.

As I read the words, my heart just hurt. You can see in the protocol that we got as far as Bishop Lee starting to appoint the property committee (the protocol provides a just and fair way to do that so that all parties are represented amicably, as you will see). The spirit in which this document was written, the hope and witness that we could walk through this with grace was indeed sincere.

For those of you who visit the Cafe here often, you will know that I was utterly shocked by the complete change of suddenly rejecting the protocol in January replaced by a march into the courtroom. As you will see in the protocol, the property is not transferred until the negotiations are complete. So when we hear those who say that the property was transferred (as 815 has recently been saying on its official releases) that is utterly false. The vote - which the protocol sets out very plainly - was officially recorded. That was all.